A-ca-awkward
by Clytemnestra13
Summary: Beca isn't happy about going to college, but when she makes a few friends, including an extremely bubbly ginger, she might find out it's not so bad. Follows both Beca's and Chloe's POV. Rated M to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Ok so this is my first attempt at a FF, though I have written several original stories before. This also happens to be my shortest story ever written, as I seem to be addicted to detail. I see an image in my head and try to share that exact image with others. I don't mind feedback and constructive criticism, but let's not be harsh about it please. Also I am my own Beta, so if you see grammar/spelling mistakes, feel free to point them out because I hate those.**

 **I wrote this story according to the actual script of PP, but I added parts in between scenes or extended some. This is more or less what I see, reading between the lines so to speak, when I watch the movie. I hope you guys like it.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing, but if I did, these "extra scenes" would totally have been in the movie.**

* * *

Beca Mitchell was not looking forward to attending classes at Barden University, but her father had insisted she get an education rather than head off to L.A. to get a jump start on her career and "pay her dues" as she called it. "DJ-ing isn't a career, Beca." Her father had said when she tried to argue with him. They'd fought about it for a while now, but Beca didn't exactly have the money to move to L.A. just yet and, thanks to her father being a professor at Barden, Beca's education would be completely free.

Beca's taxi pulled up in front of the main campus and Beca took a breath before getting out. Some of the Upper-classmen were helping new students find their dorms while others were helping them carry their belongings. An older student in a yellow polo started to unload Beca's luggage from the trunk of the taxi. She hurriedly grabbed the bag that held her laptop and expensive music software. It was her lifeline in all of this. Beca hoped to lose herself in her mixes and ignore college life as much as possible.

"Hi there! Welcome to Barden University." An overly cheery girl in a green polo greeted Beca. "What dorm?"

"Baker Hall." Beca told her after removing her headphones from her ears to rest on her neck.

The greeter pulled out a map and started to explain the direction in which Beca needed to go to get to her dorm, but Beca tuned her out when a Prius pulled up alongside her taxi and the guy in the backseat was singing "Carry On Wayward Son". Beca watched the display with little interest as the attractive young man started to sing the guitar solo as he played his air guitar to her. A sardonic smile and a raised eyebrow was the most attention he got from her.

"…and your official BU rape whistle. Don't blow it unless it's actually happening. Nobody likes that." The greeter finished, handing Beca a small silver whistle attached to a green springy wrist band.

Beca quirked an eyebrow at the greeter, thinking her a bit over the top. The greeter, never losing her smile, made a short humming sound as if to call Beca a bitch without actually saying the words.

Beca enters her dorm room with her things in her hands and notices her roommate is already there. She tried interacting with the girl, but she honestly wasn't even sure the girl spoke English; she just glared back at Beca without saying a word. Beca tried to ensure Kimmy Jin understood that Beca's music was everything to her and to never touch it, but she still got no response.

A short while after setting her music equipment up, there was a knock on the door. Beca's father had come to see her and welcome her. They talked briefly about Beca's reluctance to be there in the first place before Kimmy Jin states that's she's going to the Activities Fair in perfect English, slightly shocking Beca, but she quickly tells her father she's going with her "super-good friend, Kimmy Jin".

When Beca is outside, Kimmy Jin leaves her for a group of people at a booth with a sign that read, "Korean Students Association". Beca watched her as she was greeted warmly by the others there. Beca wandered around slowly looking over each booth, but showing no interest in any particular one.

* * *

Chloe Beale stood with her best friend Aubrey Posen as they tried desperately to find at least eight girls to join their a cappella group, the Barden Bellas. Since their embarrassing performance the previous year in which Aubrey threw up all over the first few rows, they weren't very popular. Chloe had tried to recruit "Bologna Barb", who turned them down because of the way they'd made fun of the way her breasts looked in the past.

"This. Is. A TRAVESTY!" Chloe sang the last part. "If we can't get Bologna Barb, we can't get anybody." Chloe stressed.

"Take the dramatics down a notch." Aubrey cautioned her.

"You're the one who got us into this hot mess!" Chloe complained.

"We'll be fine. I'm confident we'll find eight super-hot girls with bikini ready bodies who can harmonize and have perfect pitch." Aubrey tries handing a flyer to a group of girls that happen to be walking by, but they push her aside and keep walking. "Keep flyering. We have a tradition to uphold." Aubrey commands.

"How about we just get good singers?" Chloe suggests.

"What? Good singers?" A heavier set blonde asks.

"Hi! Can you sing?" Chloe asks.

"Yeah." The blonde says.

"Can you read music?"

"Yeah."

"Can you match pitch?"

"Try me." The blonde says, pointing confidently at Chloe.

Chloe leads the girl through a few notes that the blonde seems to match rather well, if not a bit over enthusiastically. After she finishes the last note, having held it for quite some time and repeating it after a breath, she begins to demonstrate her dancing abilities, choosing to sit on the ground and flaunt her "mermaid dancing" skills.

"What's your name?" Chloe asks.

"Fat Amy." The girl replied without pause.

"You call yourself Fat Amy?" Aubrey asked incredulously.

"Yeah, so twig bitches like you don't do it behind my back." She explains.

Aubrey hands her a flyer. "See you at auditions…Fat Amy."

After Fat Amy walks off, Aubrey admits that recruiting just one person, never mind that she is not what she'd call traditional, was satisfying.

* * *

Beca finds a booth with a sign advertising for DJ's, but when she quickly approaches, she reads the poster stating that DJ's is actually for Deaf Jews. The disappointment was evident on her face. So much for that spark of hope.

"Deaf Jews. Ooohh." A strange bigger Australian blonde says, reading the poster next to Beca.

"Shalom!" One of the deaf Jews says in way of greeting.

"That's not a real word, but keep trying! You. Will. Get. There!" The blonde yells to him.

The boy looks confused and shoves the sign-up sheet towards her.

Beca can't help but laugh lightly. "Not a lot of Jewish people where you're from?"

After the blonde agrees with Beca's assumptions, Beca moves on. As she's passing a booth with a couple of girls in front of it, her eyes linger on the two. The blonde holds little interest for Beca, but something about the ginger holds Beca's gaze for longer than she intended.

* * *

Chloe caught sight of a short brunette with dark eyeliner and pointed her out to Aubrey. "What about her?"

"I dunno," Aubrey hesitates, looking the girl over. "she looks a little too alternative for us."

"Hi, any interest in joining our a cappella group?" Chloe says as the brunette gets close enough to hear her.

"Oh right. So this is like, a thing now." The girl says, stopping to look at the flyer Chloe had thrust at her.

"Oh totes. We sing covers of songs but we do it without any instruments. It's all from our mouths." Chloe explains excitedly.

"Yikes." The girl exclaims.

"There's four groups on campus. The Bellas. That's us. We're the tits. The BU Harmonics. They sing a lot of Madonna. The High Notes. They're not particularly motivated. And then there's..." Chloe trails off, gazing at the group of guys singing "Whip It" behind them. "So are you interested?" She asks.

"Sorry, it's just, it's pretty lame." The brunette says, which was the wrong thing to say in front of Aubrey.

"A-ca-scuse me? Synchronized lady dancing to a Mariah Carey chart topper is not lame." Aubrey lashes out at the girl.

"We sing all over the world and we compete in national championships." Chloe tried to smooth the situation over.

"On purpose?" The girl asks sarcastically.

"We played the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, you bitch!" Aubrey snarks.

The girl raised an eyebrow as she regarded Aubrey's words in surprise.

"What Aubrey means to say is that we are a close-knit, talented group of ladies whose dream is to return to the national finals at Lincoln Centre this year. Help us turn our dreams into a reality?" Chloe tries again.

"Sorry, I don't even sing, but it was really nice to meet you guys." The brunette says before wandering off, leaving Chloe and Aubrey alone again.

"What are we gonna do?" Aubrey asks, clearly dismayed by the lack of interest their fellow BU students were showing.

* * *

After failing to find anything of interest to her at the Activities Fair, Beca made her way over to the Barden University radio station. There she met the station manager, Luke and discovered her fellow intern was none other than the guy who played the air guitar to her from his parents' backseat when she first arrived at Barden. She tried to pretend like she didn't know him, but he didn't seem to be the type to give up easily. Beca briefly complained about not being able to play music like she wanted to. The guy, Jesse, tried to cheer her up by joking about really loving stacking CD's which was their assumed job for now. When that didn't work, Jesse tried another tactic.

"So what's your deal? You one of those girls who's all dark and mysterious then she takes off her glasses and that amazingly scary ear spike and you realize that, you know she was beautiful the whole time?"

"I don't wear glasses." Beca stated flatly.

"Then you're half way there." Jesse finished.

* * *

Beca was laying in her bed, trying to forget about being at Barden for nearly a month now when a knock sounded on her dorm room door. Her father entered before she or Kimmy Jin could answer.

"Beca. Beca, wake up." Her father said, shaking her into complete consciousness. "Funny this doesn't look like your intro to Philosophy class."

"I'm posing an important philosophical question. If I don't actually go to that class, will it still suck?"

Her father was not impressed with her smartass attitude. "Look, honey. College is...it's great. You get to create memories here, I see it every day. You just have to give it a chance. You've been here, what, a month now? Do you have any friends?"

"Kimmy Jin is my friend." Beca said offhandedly, trying to get him to back off.

But of course, Kimmy Jin had to ruin it. "No."

"You gotta get out there, Bec. You gotta try something."

"I got a job at the radio station."

"Great, that place. Yeah, it's dark and dirty and has like, what, those three weirdoes who work there?"

"Well, four now," Beca retorted.

"You gotta try something new Bec. Join one club on campus. And if, at the end of the year, you still don't want to be here, you still want to go off to L.A. and be P. Diddy, well then, you can quit college. And I will help you move to L.A." Her father said, trying to convince her to really try.

Beca was floored by his words. "Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously. But I really need to see it Beca. This is college. Join in."

Beca thought it over and decided it couldn't hurt if it meant she had his word that he would help her out when this inevitably went to complete shit.

* * *

Beca was in need of a good shower. She collected her things and headed down to the shower rooms. Having been working on a mix recently with "Titanium", Beca had the song stuck in her head and began singing as she opened the door, assuming the room was empty.

" _You shout it out,_ _  
_ _But I can't hear a word you say_ _  
_ _I'm talking loud not saying much_ _  
_ _I'm criticized but all your bullets ricochet_ _  
_ _You shoot me down, but I get up  
I'm bulletproof  
Nothing to lose…"_

Beca's singing was cut short when she heard a girl start talking to her much too close behind her.

* * *

Chloe was fooling around with her boy toy in the girls shower room when she heard a voice that she could only describe as captivating, start singing one of her favorite songs. She just had to know who was singing so beautifully and left her own shower stall to invade the shower the voice was coming from.

Chloe slowly pulled open the shower curtain to see the brunette from the Activities Fair.

"You can sing!" Chloe exclaimed.

The girl turned around and shouted in surprise. "Dude!"

The girl attempted to close the curtain on Chloe, but she pushed it back open and stepped closer. Both were naked from head to toe, but Chloe didn't seem to notice.

"How high does your belt go?" She asked, leaning past the girl to turn off the water in an attempt to hear the girl better.

"My what?" The brunette asked, before looking down at Chloe's naked flesh and turning away from her. "Oh my God!"

"You have to audition for the Bellas." Chloe said, still not realizing the uncomfortable situation she was putting the girl in.

"I can't concentrate on anything you're saying until you cover your junk." The girl said, trying to cover her own naked body with the shower curtain.

"Just consider it. One time we sang backup for Prince. His butt is so tiny that I can hold it with like one hand." Chloe gushed. "Oops!" She cried as she accidently knocked the shampoo bottle the girl had been holding from her hands.

The girl bent to pick it up quickly, bringing her awfully close to Chloe's feminine region. "Seriously. I'm nude." The girl said with her back to Chloe now.

"You were singing 'Titanium' right?" Chloe asked, already knowing the answer.

"You know David Guetta?" The girl seemed to relax a degree as she looked over her shoulder to meet Chloe's eyes.

"Have I been living under a rock? Yeah. That song is my jam." Chloe winked at the girl. "My lady jam."

"That's nice." The brunette commented.

"It is. That song really builds." Chloe could recall several times she had gotten worked up by the song playing while she was sexually flustered.

"Gross." The girl mumbled.

"Can you sing it for me?" Chloe asked.

"Dude, no. Get out!"

Chloe realized her mistake and tried to reassure the girl she wasn't trying to sex her up. Hard to get through when she had invaded the girl's shower with neither of them wearing a stitch of clothing. "Not for that reason." The girl didn't respond. "I'm not leaving here till you sing. So..." Chloe gave a dramatic yawn until the girl turned around and started singing again. Chloe joined her, harmonizing perfectly with her. When they finished Chloe wore a smile that was reflected by the smaller girl until the brunette's eyes flicked down and back up, averting her eyes.

"Yeah. I'm pretty confident about all this." Chloe said, gesturing to her naked flesh.

"You should be." The girl nodded. "I still need to shower." The girl stated, hinting for Chloe to leave now.

Chloe's boy toy turned the corner then, also wearing nothing as he complimented the girl. "You have a lovely voice."

Stunned, the girl replied with a harshly spoken, "Thanks."

Chloe seemed to suddenly realize what she'd done and jumped to leave. "Yeah. See you at auditions!" She hollered as she and her boy toy left.

* * *

Beca got back to her dorm room after her shower. She still wasn't sure the whole thing with the ginger was real. What was wrong with that girl?! Who just busted into some stranger's shower like that?!

 _She had a really nice body though._ Beca thought to herself. _Oh my God, Beca! Why would you even think that?_

The thought ran through her mind without her permission. The image of the attractive, NAKED, ginger's body would likely be forever imprinted in her memory. She hadn't been able to keep her eyes from roaming over the flawless alabaster skin just inches from her own exposed flesh. It was when she bent to retrieve her fallen shampoo bottle that Beca got more than a mere eyeful of the ginger's bits. She could have moved just a little less tightly and brushed up against the girl she doubted would have even moved.

 _What is wrong with you?! You should not be having these thoughts!_ Beca mentally screamed at her mind.

Beca decided to finish her newest mix to take her mind off of the incident in the shower. With one last thought about the ginger, she figured it couldn't hurt to audition for the Bellas. The ginger already seemed to approve of her voice and it would satisfy her father. Maybe she could get away with faking it all and just slide under the radar.

* * *

Chloe and Aubrey sat in the auditorium listening to the multitude of people who showed up to audition for one of the four a cappella groups in attendance. She was starting to think the brunette from the Activities Fair and shower wasn't going to show. Everybody who'd been on the list had sang their bit of Kelly Clarkson's "Since You've Been Gone" and Tommy was beginning to wrap up auditions when Chloe noticed the girl standing next to the stage. Excitement rushed through her as she spoke up to bring Tommy's and everyone else's attention to the girl's presence.

Unaware that she had to sing a specific song, the girl confessed she wasn't prepared and Chloe cheerfully suggested she sing whatever she wanted. The girl asked permission to use the cup sitting in front of Chloe and Aubrey. When Chloe allowed her to take it the girl began using the cup as an instrument and started banging out an interesting, steady beat before adding her voice to sing a song Chloe had never heard, but the girl's voice was just as flowing and impressive as the first time Chloe heard her sing. Even Aubrey seemed to appreciate her vocal talents.

Chloe smiled in triumph as the girl finished. They had her fill out a sheet of paper with her information on it. Chloe finally knew the girl's name. Beca Mitchell. Chloe beamed at the girl before she left.

* * *

 _That girl seemed way too happy to see me._ Beca thought to herself. _Is she always that happy? I might have to watch out for her. No one should be that cheerful all the time. Maybe she's a sociopath._ Beca continued to think as she headed back to her dorm.

Upon giving them her information, the two had introduced themselves to her. The blonde, Aubrey, Beca remembered from the Activities Fair when the other girl had tried to convince her to join originally. Chloe was the ginger's name. A fitting one Beca thought. It just seemed to fit her happy personality so well.

 _Well I guess we'll see what they thought of you later._ Beca's mind seemed to speak to her as she tried to pretend that she wasn't nervous about it all.

* * *

It was after midnight when Beca heard her dorm room door open. She was sure it was just Kimmy Jin, but she couldn't figure out why her roommate had come back so late. Beca didn't even open her eyes to check, too tired from worrying about her audition for the Bellas. Suddenly the room got impossibly darker as something was shoved over her head and she was drug from her bed before she could react. When the people holding either arm drug her into the hallway, she heard the muffled, confused voices of a few other girls and relaxed a degree.

Soon after joining the other voices, they were led out into the cold night air and walked a while down the side walk before entering a dimly lit, though warm, house. Beca could tell it was a house and not another dorm building, by the way their footsteps didn't echo as loudly around them as they traversed the wooden floors blindfolded. They were steered carefully and slowly down a flight of stairs and Beca could tell she was in a basement now. She really hoped this wasn't some sex ring abduction and she was right to assume this was some strange college ritual.

"The sopranos." Beca recognized Aubrey's voice. "Jessica, Mary Elise, Lilly. The mezzos. Cynthia Rose, Stacie, Kori. And our altos. Fat Amy, Denise, Ashley and Beca." Beca looked around as the hood was removed from her face. She noted the faces of nine other girls before finding the faces of the snarky blonde and the ginger, Chloe she remembered. "We shall begin by drinking the blood of the sisters that came before you." Aubrey finished as Chloe pushed an old style looking goblet in Beca's face.

"Dude, no." She exclaimed.

"Don't worry it's Boone's Farm." Chloe whispered with a wink.

"Now, if you'll place your scarves in your right hand." Aubrey instructed when they'd all drunk from the goblet. "I, sing your name..."

Each of the girls did as Aubrey instructed, singing out their names in an unpleasant chorus of names.

"Promise to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of a Bella woman." Aubrey continued.

"Promise to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of a Bella woman." They echoed.

"And I solemnly promise to never have sexual relations with a Treblemaker or may my vocal cords be ripped out by wolves."

"And I solemnly promise to never have sexual relations with a Treblemaker or may my vocal cords be ripped out by wolves." Beca finished saying the words wondering if this was really worth the insanity she was facing.

"You are all Bellas now." Aubrey smiled as she announced this news.

A bunch of screaming happened after that.

* * *

"We did it." Chloe said, looking at the girls she and Aubrey had just welcomed into their ranks.

"I want some more of this." They heard Fat Amy say, grabbing the goblet of wine and finishing it off.

"Did we?" Aubrey asked uncertainly.

* * *

Beca followed all the other Bellas out the front door led by Aubrey and Chloe to a party that already seemed to be in full swing.

"Ladies welcome to a-ca-initiation night. Prepare to soften the beach." Aubrey announced before setting the excited girls loose.

Beca watched the antics of the others. She could see Chloe and Aubrey grabbing a few drinks towards the bottom of the bleacher-like structure she was standing on. "I don't know what I'm doing here." She said to no one in particular.

The Australian blonde who Beca came to know as Fat Amy answered her. "Just living the dream. I still can't believe they let my sexy fat ass in." Then Fat Amy ran off to join the fun.

"Beca! Beca!" Beca heard Jesse yelling as he climbed over the seats rather than walk around to get to her.

"Wow." Beca commented.

"Be-caw! Be-caw. Do my eyes deceive me or are you a Barden Bella?" He asked surprisingly without slurring as Beca was sure he had to be wasted with how he was acting.

"No."

"You're one of those a cappella girls, I'm one of those a cappella boys, and we're gonna have a-ca-children. It's inevitable." He said with a straight face.

Beca smiled in spite of her slight annoyance with his excessive friendliness. "You're really drunk right now. I don't think you're gonna remember any of this."

"No. I'm not drunk at all, you're just blurry."

After a few more words were exchanged, Jesse ran off saying he was going to get Beca a drink.

"Please be careful." Beca hollered as he left.

* * *

Chloe feeling a bit more confident since downing a couple of rather strong cups of alcohol spotted Beca standing alone and went to say hi. She couldn't quite explain why the girl was so attractive when she wasn't the friendliest person she'd ever met with how much sarcasm and disdain she used in each sentence.

"Hi." Chloe said grabbing Beca's wrists. "I am so glad that I met you." She leaned in close to Beca's face touching her nose with her own. If Beca didn't look like she'd run away Chloe might not have stopped there. "I think that we're gonna be really fast friends." She stated.

"Yeah. Well, you saw me naked, so..." Beca joked, winking at her.

Chloe giggled at the smaller girl's words. She recalled the scene and Beca's wet, naked body exposed to her. The tattoos on her back and shoulder were especially enticing. Chloe wanted to kiss every inch of them and trace their outlines with her tongue.

Sensing Beca's growing unease with Chloe's uncomfortable proximity, Chloe decided it was time to head back down to Aubrey and the others before getting herself into trouble. "Alright. I'm gonna go get a drink. This ginger needs her jiggle juice." She said turning her butt to Beca and jiggling it as she spoke before giving her hip a slap. "See you later!" She yelled over her shoulder.

"Make good choices." Beca called back.

Chloe smiled to herself, thinking she was doing well with Beca so far. At least the younger woman seemed to accept her friendly nature, even if it was more pronounced with Beca than with others.

* * *

Beca watched Chloe leave, her gaze lingering on her ass a moment too long for Beca's comfort. She told herself it was only because Chloe had brought attention to it with the wiggle and smack. Beca was talking with one of the other Bella recruits when Jesse came back up over the seats trying to sing the words to the song that was playing, but he admitted to not knowing the lyrics. He handed her one of the two cups in his hand and turned around to view the party.

"This is awesome." He said.

"It's definitely something." Beca replied dully, not too interested in it all.

"We are the kings of campus!" Jesse yelled out.

Beca was not comfortable with the attention he was bringing to himself and tried to sink into the background. When she was able, she slunk away from Jesse and the party altogether. She abandoned her drink, having hardly drunk any, at the top of the steps and returned to her dorm. Kimmy Jin glared at her, but didn't speak when she entered her room and started working on her laptop. When it was after two in the morning, Beca shut down her computer and removed her headphones. Despite the party still obviously going on, she went to bed with little difficulty.

* * *

At the first Bellas rehearsal the next day, Aubrey announced that one of the Bella recruits had already been dismissed from the Bellas due to her sleeping with a Treblemaker.

"That oath was serious?" Beca asked, incredulous.

"Dixie Chicks serious." Aubrey said as if that said it all. "You can fool around with whoever you want to, just not a Treble."

"That's not gonna be easy. He's a hunter." One of the other recruits said, Stacie Beca recalled, indicating her crotch.

"You call it a dude?" Another asked.

"Stacie, the Trebles don't respect us and if we let them penetrate us, we are giving them our power." Aubrey explained.

"Not a good enough reason to use the word 'penetrate'." Fat Amy murmured.

"So, does anyone here have anything to confess?"

Aubrey glared at each of the girls until the one Beca had been talking to at the party started squirming and confessed, stating it was an accident. Aubrey showed no mercy, telling her to hand in her scarf and go, demanding she take her chair with her. As the girl drug the chair behind her, she started to cry and the surprised Bellas watched her go. She left the chair at the far end of the room and ran out sobbing loudly.

"Was that necessary?" Beca asked, angered for the girl.

"This is war, Beca, and it is my job to make sure that my soldiers are prepped at go time with three kick-ass songs sung and choreographed to perfection. And there are only four months until Regionals. So if you have a problem with the way I run the Bellas, then you should just..." Aubrey's rant cut off as she began to heave.

"Don't stress Aubrey. Relax. We don't want a repeat of what happened last year." Chloe comforted the girl quietly.

The strange, almost silent, girl rose her hand and mumbled something that Beca nor anyone else heard.

"What are you saying?"

The girl huffed, but repeated her muted words. "What happened last year? And do you guys wanna see a dead body?"

Beca made a mental note to keep an eye on the silent girl. These girls were really starting to freak her out. Were they all crazy?

Next thing Beca knew, there was an iPad in Stacie's hands and they were all watching the puke fest Aubrey had on stage last year at Regionals.

"Ooh click on 'Guy Pukes on Cat'." One of them shouted out.

"Enough! It happened. It's over." Aubrey shouted when the video was over. "We will practice every day for at least two hours, seven days a week. And I trust you will add your own cardio."

"Why cardio?" Beca asked, not understanding what cardio had to do with singing.

"Yeah, no, don't put me down for cardio." Fat Amy spoke vehemently.

"Okay, moving on. This is a list of all the songs that we have ever performed. And you will notice that we only do songs made famous by women." Aubrey handed each of them a sheet of paper.

Beca looked over the setlist and wasn't impressed by any of the songs. She wasn't even sure she had heard over half of them.

"There's nothing from this century on here." She said.

"Because we don't stray from tradition. Now this is how we will become champions." Aubrey countered, not giving Beca another chance to argue.

After leading each of the girls through some vocal exercises, which Beca found rather strange and slightly annoying, Aubrey had all of the girls running up and down a set of bleachers in a circle. She yelled to them to keep moving and run faster.

"Come on girls! Let's go! Go, go, go! Pick up your knees! Faster, faster! One, two, one, two, one two! Knees up, knees up! Go, go! Go! Let's get it! Yes, Chloe." Aubrey gave Chloe a two handed high five while each of the others received a smack on the ass. "Nice. Amy! What are you doing?"

Aubrey had just spotted Fat Amy laying on the bleachers trying to evade notice.

"I'm doing horizontal running." Amy said, kicking her legs in a circle mid-air.

"Horizontal running?" Aubrey asked skeptically.

Next they were all in heels, learning to walk without tripping and looking like they were walking on a high wire. When Aubrey was satisfied with that, they moved on to choreography. Chloe worked with each of them individually. Stacie had problems touching herself while dancing….

* * *

Chloe tried helping Stacie learn the dance moves, but the girl had some serious issues with touching herself when she moved. The overly sexual suggestions this girl radiated was a big turn off for her as she kept removing the girl's hands from her own body.

Chloe and Aubrey demonstrated the dance for the girls again, trying to get them to pay enough attention to get at least some of it down.

Chloe went back to helping each of them work on their moves as they stood in the mirror. Most of them she just snapped her fingers to a beat and had them go through the moves as she watched for mistakes. When it was Beca's turn though, she couldn't help but look down slightly to watch her ass move. Beca seemed to have the gist of it down, but she lacked the enthusiasm that the choreography called for so Chloe stepped forward to help her.

"I know. I can do it." Beca said, trying to get Chloe to let go of her arms. Chloe ignored her though, moving her arms the way she wanted. Chloe leaned over the shorter girl's shoulder and peered down, not meaning to look at her breasts, but that's where her eyes landed. Beca didn't seem to notice though and Chloe looked back up quickly enough.

Chloe walked over to watch Stacie going through the moves with Cynthia Rose watching when Stacie bent over with one leg straight up in the air, the other and her hands on the floor. Chloe couldn't help watching the tall girl's butt and noticed Cynthia Rose looking too. Chloe smiled to Cynthia Rose, but didn't comment.

* * *

"Five, six, seven, eight. _Left you all alone._ " Chloe sang before Aubrey gave up.

"Okay, I'm calling it." She said.

Lilly mumbled something Beca couldn't hear, but it sounded like approval.

"Nothing. I hear nothing." Aubrey said to the girl.

Beca couldn't help herself. She had to ask. "Hey Aubrey. Did we just learn the same choreography from that video?"

"Okay don't forget to pick up your performance schedules. We have a gig next week. That's right. Next week." Aubrey yelled to the girls, ignoring Beca's question.

"You guys, it's the Sigma Beta Theta's Annual Fall Mixer." Chloe added.

"Okay, hands in, Bellas." Aubrey said, as she and Chloe put their hands together. "Hands in a-ca-bitches!" She yelled when they didn't immediately join them.

After a failed attempt to sing "ahh" on three as was Bella tradition, Aubrey said they'd work on it first thing next time.

"Beca, a word?" Aubrey called before Beca could leave.

"What's up?"

"You know you'll have to take those ear monstrosities out for the Fall Mixer." Aubrey said, indicating Beca's ear spikes.

"You really don't like me, do you?"

"I don't like your attitude."

"You don't even know me." Beca pointed out.

"I know you have a toner for Jesse."

"A what?"

"A toner. A musical boner. I saw it at Hood Night. It's distracting."

"Yeah, that's not a thing and you're not the boss of me. So…"

"You took an oath."

"That oath cost you two girls already today. I'm pretty sure you need me more than I need you." Beca argued, getting agitated with Aubrey's apparent interest in making her feel small.

"I can see your toner through those jeans." Aubrey yelled as Beca turned to leave.

Beca turned back to face Aubrey, walking backwards. "That's my dick."

* * *

Chloe watched the interaction between her best friend and the younger brunette. "Everything okay?"

"We better have our shit together before SBT." Aubrey said simply.

Chloe smiled encouragingly. "I'm not worried. I think we're gonna be a-ca-awesome."


	2. Chapter 2

They were not "a-ca-awesome" at the mixer. They weren't harmonizing very well and most of them didn't have the choreography down yet. One of the frat boys kicked them out in the middle of "Turn the Beat Around".

Aubrey was livid. "Well, I hope you all remember the way you feel right now, so you will never wanna feel this way again. Chloe, your voice didn't sound Aguilerian at all." Aubrey waited for Chloe to say something, but when she didn't she continued. "Chloe, for serious, what is wrong with you?"

"I have nodes." Chloe announced.

Aubrey gasped. "What? Oh my God."

"I found out this morning." Chloe added.

"What are nodes?" Beca asked, concerned as it seemed to be a big deal to the two captains.

"Vocal nodules. The rubbing together of your vocal cords at above-average rates without proper lubrication." Aubrey explained.

"They sit on your windpipe and they crush your dreams." Chloe added dramatically.

"Isn't that painful? Why would you keep performing?" Beca couldn't understand why Chloe would cause herself pain so willingly.

"Because I love to sing."

"Yeah, it's like when my lady doctor told me not to have sex for six weeks, and I did it anyway." Stacie sympathized, albeit taking it to an extreme.

"You should really listen to your doctor." Fat Amy told her.

"They key is early diagnosis. I am living with nodes. But I am a survivor. I just have to pull back. Because I am limited. Because I have nodes." Chloe reassured them.

"Chloe this is horrible." Aubrey whined for her.

"Well at least it's not herpes. Or do you have that as well?" Fat Amy interjected.

Beca looked at Fat Amy, but wasn't really surprised by the audacious things she said anymore. Aubrey did look at her with slight surprise though. No one really answered Amy, but it was understood that Chloe did not have herpes. With Aubrey having been distracted by Chloe's nodes, she completely forgot about yelling at the Bellas about their performance, for now at least.

Aubrey, comforting Chloe, led the Bellas away from the SBT house, effectively letting them all go their own ways.

* * *

Beca's next shift at the radio station with Jesse was a slow and boring day. Beca's mood was a bit more sour than usual as college was turning out to be about as exciting as she had predicted. Jesse was attempting to make her smile. He kept putting amusing album covers in front of his face and catching Beca's attention. Beca tried to act like she wasn't amused by his ridiculous behavior, but she kept smirking at him while his face was covered. She quickly tried to cover her smirk with a straight face when he removed the cover from his face, but sometimes she wasn't so quick.

Just as Beca was really about to lose the battle against her smile, Luke the station manager came out of the booth.

"Jesse." He called.

"Yeah."

"I'm starving so could you…"

"You want me to get you lunch? You should probably lay off the burgers. You're not gonna be 22 forever, you know." Jesse warned, probably thinking the guy was going to get fat.

Luke lifted his shirt "Yeah, I think I'm good."

"He's good. You're good." Beca assured them both as she marveled the exquisite abs Luke possessed.

"And the chess match continues." Jesse grumbled, stalking out to get Luke's lunch.

"Ah hey, this is my new mix, so if there's anything you wanted to play…" Beca said, handing Luke her newest mix on a USB.

"Yeah, okay. I'll put it on the pile."

"Okay." Beca would never admit it out loud, but she was kind of bummed he wouldn't play or even listen to any of her mixes as of yet.

* * *

After her shift, Beca was hanging out in the grass with her laptop, working on a new mix. Beca really hoped her father wouldn't walk by and see her sitting in the grass with the other students. It would be too much for Beca to bear if he realized he was right at the beginning of the year when he'd told her about students studying in the grass and Beca had insisted she didn't want to do that. Granted she wasn't studying, but the principle was the same.

Suddenly Jesse was standing beside her, handing her a juice box and sitting down next to her.

"What's up, weirdo?" Jesse said.

"Okay. What's this?" Beca asked.

"As much as I love spending time with you stacking CDs…and I do. I love it, like more than life. I figured we could do some other fun things that don't make us wanna kill ourselves, right?"

"Yeah." Beca said.

"So, brought some movies. Jaws, E.T., The Breakfast Club, Star Wars and Rocky. Best scored and soundtracked movies of all time. That's what I wanna do when I grow up. I wanna score movies. Bring people to tears, you know. Blow their minds. I feel like only music can do that."

"Yeah. You must really sweep your girlfriend off her feet." Beca was not looking forward to ruining Jesse's day by explaining how much movies bored her.

"I don't have a girlfriend?" Jesse confessed.

"What?"

"No."

"You have juice pouches and Rocky."

"Okay, so what do you wanna watch first?"

"Wanna do something else? We could relive my parents' divorce. Or visit a gynecologist." Beca joked without humor.

"What, do you not like movies or something?" Beca gave him an apologetic stare and sipped at her juice pouch. "Like any movies? You don't…What the hell is wrong with you? How do you not like movies? Not liking movies is like not liking puppies."

"They're fine. I just get bored and never make it to the end."

Jesse was in disbelief. "The endings are the best part."

"They're predictable. Like, the guy gets the girl and that kid sees dead people and Darth Vader is Luke's father."

"Okay, right, so you just happen to guess the biggest cinematic reveal in history?" Jesse didn't believe she could have guessed such a thing.

"'Vader' in German means father. His name is literally 'Darth Father.'" Beca laughed.

"Huh. So you know German. Well now I know why you don't like fun things." Jesse teased. "You know, you need a movie education. You need a movie-cation. And I'm gonna give it to you."

Beca didn't really want to watch a bunch of movies, especially if someone was going to try to force them on her. "Yeah, in between Bellas rehearsals, which are always."

Jesse looked at her knowingly. "Are you guys getting ready for the Riff-Off?"

Beca paused. "What the hell is a Riff-Off?"

Jesse tried to explain it the way the experienced Trebles explained it to him and his fellow Treble recruits. Beca was still very confused.

"You'll find out soon enough." Jesse promised.

* * *

Beca found herself in an empty pool with all the other Bellas, as well as the Treblemakers, High Notes and the BU Harmonics. A few non-a cappella students were hanging around at the top edges of the pool. After a few confusing minutes, the BU Harmonics started making siren sounds, indicating the arrival of Justin.

"Welcome to the Riff-Off!" Justin hollered, holding his arms out wide. "Who's ready to get vocal? The winners get the greatest prize of all."

"I'm taking you down." Jesse mouthed to Beca.

"...the microphone used by Hoobastank…" Justin continued.

"I don't care." Beca mouthed back.

".…when they rocked out at the Schnee Performing Arts Centre. Let's see our first category." Justin lifted a device that resembled a laser pointer, but it had a spinning wheel that was illuminated on the wall. When the spinning stopped, Justin announced the category. "Ladies of the 80's."

Aubrey ran out to try to start the competition, but Bumper, the leader of the Treblemakers, got there first and started belting out "Mickey". The BU Harmonics jumped up to start singing "Like A Virgin" then Aubrey got her chance and began singing "Hit Me With Your Best Shot". One of the girls from the High Notes tried stealing the show, but she began singing a song that didn't fit with Aubrey's words and so she was "cut off" as everyone shouted. She took it good naturedly, laughing as she returned to her group.

Justin spun the wheel again and this time it landed on "Songs About Sex". Beca thought she was starting to get the hang of this whole thing and asked Chloe for confirmation. The only rules were, stay within the category and match your first sung lyric to the previous teams sung lyric.

Cynthia Rose jumped to the front of the group and began singing "S&M". Stacie joined her and they started to almost grind on one another as they sang. The others sang backup.

Donald from the Treblemakers jumped up to Stacie and began singing "Let's Talk About Sex". Stacie didn't back down though until Aubrey pulled her back. Stacie fought for Aubrey to let go, pleading with her until she was free to run back up and take over again with "I'll Make Love To You". Then Jesse jumped forward, singing "Feels Like The First Time".

Jesse was staring right at Beca and pointed as he sang, challenging her. Beca nodded to herself before blowing Jesse a sarcastic kiss, then ran forward and started rapping "No Diggity".

" _It's going down fade to Blackstreet  
The homeys got abby collab creations Funk like acne  
No doubt I put it down never slouch  
As long as my credit could vouch  
A dog couldn't catch me straight up  
Tell me who could stop with Dre makin' moves  
Attracting honeys like a magnet  
Giving 'em eargasms with my mellow accent"_

At this point Beca began to get a bit nervous as none of the Bellas had jumped in yet and the others in the pool seemed to be in shock.

" _Still moving this flavor with the homeys Blackstreet & Teddy  
The original rump shakers"_

Beca paused when still no one was up there with her.

"Keep going." Jesse encouraged.

" _Shorty get down, good Lord  
Baby got 'em open all over town"_

Fat Amy finally walked forward singing the next line with her.

" _Strickly biz you don't play around  
Cover much ground  
Got game by the pound"_

The other Bellas then started making the appropriate sounds for the music.

* * *

Chloe was in utter shock at Beca's surprise rapping. She stared in awe as Beca tore through the beginning of "No Diggity". She knew the song, but was too shocked to help her out.

After Fat Amy joined her, Chloe got her senses back and started organizing the other Bellas.

" _Gettin paid is a forte  
Each and every day true player way  
I can't get her outta my mind  
I think about the girl all the time"_

Cynthia Rose added a long "ooo" and Chloe watched Beca the whole time. They really sounded good together.

" _I like the way you work it  
(no diggity)  
I got to bag it up  
I like the way you work it  
(no diggity)  
I got to bag it up  
(bag it up girl)  
I like the way you work it  
(no diggity)  
I got to bag it up  
(bag it up)  
I like the way you work it  
(no diggity)  
I got to bag it up"_

The people around them, including the other groups started singing _"Hey yo hey yo hey yo hey yo"_ while Beca sang the last part. Chloe watched Beca circle around the group and come back in front of her. A smile was spread wide across Beca's face and Chloe was lost to it. As Beca passed her, she watched her move, her gaze dropping for a moment as Beca's ass swayed past.

"We out." Beca finished, crossing her arms over her crotch in an "X" as the crowd erupted.

* * *

Beca felt pride rise within her chest as she finished the song. Jesse began clapping in good natured defeat and Beca teased him.

"I mean, you're welcome!" She shouted to him over the cheers.

"It's a tough blow ladies. The word you needed to match was 'it.' And you sang, 'it's.' You are…cut off!" Justin announced their defeat to them.

"Are you serious?" Beca cried.

"The Trebles win!"

"Beca, I'm sorry. You lost." Jesse said without too much sympathy.

"I've never heard that rule!" Aubrey complained. "Ladies, ladies, come on. Come back." When most of the Bellas were back with Aubrey, she shot off a few instructions. "Before everybody goes to bed tonight, I need you to make a list of everything you did wrong."

"I'm gonna melt that cabbage patch kid." Fat Amy said to Beca as she joined the others.

"Hey guys, what we just did was great, right?" Beca asked in her excitement.

"Calm your pits Beca, we still lost." Aubrey stated, killing a bit of Beca's high.

"Yeah but it was spontaneous. It was awesome. They were actually listening to…"

"Okay everybody, hands in." Aubrey cut her off again. "'Ahh' on my count."

"On three of after three?"

"On three."

"After three." The group argued.

"One, two, three."

"That's not how we do it." Aubrey growled.

Stacie gave an exasperated sigh. "Why can't we figure this out?"

* * *

"Hey, Beca!" Chloe called after the brunette walking quickly back to her dorm.

"Hey, Chloe. What's up?"

"Where did you learn to rap like that? That was impressive." Chloe gushed.

Beca gave a small smirk that made Chloe's heart stutter a beat or two.

"I listen to a lot of music." Beca said simply.

Chloe waited, hoping Beca might go into a bit more depth about it. When Beca remained silent, Chloe tried to get her talking again.

"Well, you'll have to teach me sometime."

"Really?" Beca asked with surprise.

"Oh totes." Chloe giggled.

"Well, alright." Beca agreed.

Chloe stared into the dark, metallic blue eyes of the shorter brunette in front of her.

Beca fidgeted beneath Chloe's gaze. "Uh…so I'm supposed to meet Jesse back at my dorm."

Chloe tried not to pay attention to the pain that almost stopped her next breath. "Oh, yeah. I'll see you at rehearsal tomorrow."

Beca smiled, but didn't say anything. Chloe watched her disappear around the corner, before turning to head back to the Bellas' house that she shared with Aubrey. Only second year Bellas and up could live in the house. First years stayed in their dorms.

Chloe got to her room and listened to the whole "No Diggity" song on her laptop, thinking about Beca's wide smile of triumph when she effectively shut down all the other groups. Chloe hadn't been able to look away from the Freshman that had all but stolen her breath in that moment. She might just have found her newest "lady jam".

* * *

Beca had her mixes pulled up on her laptop. The one currently playing was a remix of "Bulletproof".

"So, I uh just find songs that have the same chord progressions and create a track that blends them together. So like, this is the new bass line, and this is matching up downbeats." Beca was yelling over the music coming from her headphones, but by the nodding Jesse was doing and the expression on his face, she remembered she was the only one listening to the loud music. "I'm talking really loud." She pulled off the headphones and gave them to Jesse. "Um...that's me singing."

"This is really good." Jesse yelled before taking the headphones off. "Now I'm the one yelling, right? That is amazing, Beca."

"Thanks."

"So, I brought this over because I wanna watch you watch the end of this movie. And then I can die a hero. Wait, actually…"

"You have a habit of making yourself at home, did you know that?" Beca commented as Jesse jumped up on her bed and got comfortable.

"Yeah. Okay. The Breakfast Club. 1985. Greatest ending to any movie ever. This song launched Simple Minds in the U.S. Could have been a Billy Idol song, but he turned it down. Idiot. Perfectly sums up the movie. It's equally beautiful and sad." Jesse was telling her as he played the ending.

"That is fascinating." Beca feigned interest.

"Right." Jesse didn't seem to notice her false tone.

Jesse spouted out a few more trivial facts about the song and movie before Kimmy Jin returned with her friends and the awkward moment sent Jesse all but running out the door.

* * *

At the Bellas rehearsal the next day, they were practicing their set for Regionals. They got to the end of "Turn the Beat Around" and Chloe failed to hit the last note.

Fat Amy was panting heavily when they all stopped. "I should have taken that cardio tip more seriously."

"How much have you done?" Aubrey asked.

"You just saw it." Amy stated.

"Chloe, you gotta be able to hit that last note." Aubrey scolded her co-captain.

"I can't. It's impossible. And it's because of my nodes." Chloe told her again.

"Her nodes. Her nodes." The other Bellas echoed her.

"Well if you can't do it, then someone else needs to solo."

"I think Beca should take my solo." Chloe suggested, looking back at her.

"Yeah Beca would be excellent. But also someone else might be equally as excellent." Fat Amy argued lightly.

"It's true." Beca adds.

"And they might be shy and not wanna come forward and say they wanted a solo." Fat Amy finished.

"Well Beca doesn't want a solo, so…" Aubrey tried to glaze over that argument.

"I would be happy to do it if I got to pick a new song and do an arrangement." Beca again tried to change the setlist, thinking they'd never win with what they had now.

"Well that's not how we run things here."

"Aubrey, maybe Beca has a point. Maybe we could try something new." Chloe defended Beca.

Beca felt a bit of shock mixed with a bit of pride that someone was actually listening to her suggestions for once.

* * *

Chloe wanted to hear Beca out at the very least, but Aubrey was always so difficult to deal with. Even as a co-captain, Chloe felt like she had no power in the group.

"A-ca-scuse me? You can sing 'Turn the Beat Around' and that's the last I wanna hear of this." Aubrey ended the argument.

"That song is tired. We're not gonna win with it. If we pull samples from different genres and layer them together, we could make some…" Beca kept trying to get through to the stubborn blonde, but Chloe could tell she was about to get on Aubrey's last nerve.

"Okay let me explain something to you because you still don't seem to get it. Our goal is to get back to the finals and these songs will get us there. So, excuse me if I don't take advice from some alt-girl with her mad-lib beats because she's never been in a competition. Have I made myself clear?"

Beca raised her hands in defeat. "Crystal. I won't solo."

"Fine. Fat Amy?"

"Yes, sir?"

"You'll solo."

"Yes! Yes." Fat Amy traced the rainbow heart on her shirt.

* * *

"I'm sorry about Aubrey." Chloe said as she followed Beca out of the auditorium they'd just been practicing in.

"It's fine. I don't even care about getting a solo. I only joined this group to get my father off my back." Beca told her.

Chloe felt a jolt of betrayal, but ignored it in favor of trying to cheer up her favorite Freshman. "Well, Aubrey's just really stressed out right now. Her dad can be tough on her too. He's always pushing her to do her best."

"Sounds rough." Beca replied.

"Oh totes." Chloe nodded in agreeance.

Chloe knew that if she didn't say something else soon, Beca would give some excuse to be rid of her and head back to her dorm. She didn't know what they'd talk about, but she didn't want Beca to leave her just yet.

"Hey, would you like to get a coffee or something and hang out for a bit?"

Beca looked like she was about to turn her down, but Chloe spoke again.

"I mean, I'm kind of stressed out about Regionals too, but Aubrey is my best friend and I don't think she wants to talk about it right now. Especially as I obviously don't totally agree with her."

Beca hesitated. "Yeah, but um…can we just sit in the grass or something? Coffee shops make me feel claustrophobic with all the people in there."

"Oh sure." Chloe beamed at Beca's slight slip, giving Chloe a peek behind her massive walls.

The two got a couple of drinks and headed back to the quad to relax under the shade of a nearby tree. Chloe found it a bit strange to sit in the grass. She hoped her jeans didn't get a grass stain. She had to admit she enjoyed the cool ground and the light breeze. Other than her daily runs, she didn't spend much time outside.

"So….what do you want to talk about?" Beca asked awkwardly.

"Tell me about your family." Chloe said before taking a sip from her cup.

Beca hesitated. "Well, it's complicated."

"I have time if you do." Chloe states waiting for Beca to continue.

Beca drinks from her cup and takes a deep breath. "When I was younger, my parents got a divorce. So my father and I aren't on good terms anymore. Now he's married to a new woman that I can't stand to be around."

Chloe thought about what she was going to say before she opened her mouth. This was obviously not an easy topic for Beca, but Chloe appreciated that she would tell her anything at all. Beca seemed to close down and throw up all of her defenses when someone pushed her.

"Have you tried rebuilding a relationship with him?"

Beca sighed. "Not really. I don't see the point anymore. We've been like this since he left and yeah we talked from time to time, but it was never the same."

Chloe bit one side of her lip, deciding whether or not she should say her next words.

* * *

Beca watched Chloe biting her lip and cast her eyes to the ground before looking back up into her own eyes. The action twisted something in Beca's gut that she didn't understand. Why did she look so hurt or confused? Why did it bother her that she looked like that?

"Have you ever thought that maybe it was your anger that pushed you two apart?" Chloe paused.

Beca's lips parted as she let out a surprised breath, not quite loud enough to be a gasp. Chloe's eyes stared into her own and before she could answer her question, Chloe was speaking again.

"I mean, I don't really know what happened. I'm just thinking out loud. Sorry."

Beca wasn't sure what to say to her and in her confusion, she jumped to what she knew…

"No you don't, so can we change the subject now?"

* * *

Chloe's stomach dropped at Beca's harsh words, but she wasn't surprised. She'd seen Beca do this not an hour before with Aubrey. Beca closed herself off and that's why she suspected it was more Beca than her father that had strained their relationship.

 _Stupid! You shouldn't have said that, Chloe._ She thought to herself.

"Yeah, sure. No problem." Chloe said weakly.

"Thanks." Beca said still a bit harshly.

"So what are you majoring in?" Chloe thought maybe a lighter topic would make things better.

"No idea. I don't plan on staying here after the end of the year."

"Why not?" Chloe asked before she could stop herself.

"I want to move to L.A. Look I have a shift at the station later and I should probably get some of my homework done before I go in. I'll see you later, Chloe." Beca said getting up and leaving before Chloe could mumble a quiet good-bye.

"Wow, Chloe. Nice going. You chased her off again." Chloe spoke to herself.

* * *

The day of the a cappella Regionals had arrived and Beca was not happy about dressing up in the flight attendant suits as she thought of them. While Aubrey and Chloe pulled off the outfit rather well, Beca felt completely at odds with herself.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen. The 2012 Southeastern Regional Competition has officially begun." A male commentator spoke up.

His co-host followed up with, "Yes, I'm Gail Abernathy McCadd and to my right is fellow a cappella alum John Smith and we are live from Carolina University. It's a new season for a cappella. The Regionals begin the long road to Lincoln Centre where all of these youngsters hope to one day win a trophy by making music with their mouths."

Beca stared at the stage while one a cappella group sang "Fuck You" with sock puppets on each of their hands. A few comments were made about their performance until Aubrey said watching them would make them worse, to which Beca couldn't help but reply to with a jab at Aubrey.

"At least they're different."

"And the Sockapellas, once again proving that it doesn't get better for everyone after high school." The male voice came over the speaker again.

Aubrey tried to hype the girls up with the hands-in tradition, but it wasn't getting much better since the first time they tried.

"Let's give it up for the Barden Bellas!" A man called.

"Wow. This does not look like the fresh-faced nubile Bellas that we have come to know. Is it me or are those skirts just not working anymore?" The male voice said as the Bellas walked out in their matching outfits.

Beca's nerves were immediately put on edge at the words.

"You're walking the line, John. It's a nice surprise to see the Bellas mixing it up. It's refreshing yet displeasing to the eye." The female tried to smooth over the man's harsh words, but it was obvious she didn't like their outfits much better.

Beca took a deep breath, readying herself for the disaster sure to come.

Aubrey led them off with a four count and the judges and more than half the audience seemed to go into snooze mood. Beca could see the disinterest in their faces as they watched the same tired routine being performed. After "The Sign" and "Eternal Flame" had been sung, it was Fat Amy's turn to solo with "Turn the Beat Around". The audience visibly perked up when Fat Amy started singing it with a bit more attitude than they had rehearsed. Aubrey was most likely not happy if her reaction to Beca's suggestions of changing the setlist was anything to go by.

Beca smirked at Fat Amy's antics as she finished the song, throwing off her jacket and ripping her button up open exposing the white tank top she had on underneath. The crowd cheered and the judges nodded at the display.

The Bellas were announced to have gotten second place with the Sockappellas in third and losing to the Treblemakers.

 _Big surprise there._ Beca thought cynically.

As they were leaving, they stepped out to find a few of the Trebles engaged in an unwilling fight with a few older guys whose sign labeled them as the Tonehangers. Beca caught sight of Jesse arguing with a guy who was trying to get Jesse to hit him.

"I've wrestled crocodiles and dingoes simultaneously." Fat Amy said, watching the display.

Beca nodded, not really paying attention.

"Come here!" One of the guys shouted.

"Why do you want me to hit you? I don't wanna do that." Jesse was telling the older guy.

"I need to feel something. Hit me as hard as you can. Hit me hard. Take this. Take this. I want you to hit me." The guy pleaded, handing Jesse the trophy he'd just sat down.

Beca felt she had to help her friend. "I'm just gonna…I'm just gonna check on them." She said, descending the stairs the Bellas were still standing on.

"The kraken has been unleashed. Feel the Fat Amy force!" Fat Amy cried, following her quickly.

* * *

"Oh my God." Chloe couldn't watch what was about to happen. She covered one side of her face and turned towards Aubrey.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." Aubrey said, trying to stop Fat Amy from running down the stairs.

Beca's fist slammed into the cheek of the guy wrestling with Jesse over the trophy.

"Oh my God. Oh my God." Jesse said in disbelief.

Beca shook her hand when the Tonehanger fell to the ground. "That's fantastic!" He cried.

"Amy, don't. Amy!" Chloe could hear Beca shouting. She turned her attention back to the fight, watching Amy trying to hit the guy with the trophy that she now held.

"Feel the fat power!" Amy cried out.

"Fat Amy! Kick me in the balls!" The man yelled.

There was a moaning of pain heard from the man and Beca's voice again. "Amy!"

"Give me the sharp weapon, I wanna put it up his butt!" Amy argued with Beca over the trophy.

"Ooh! Cherry on top." The guy said, getting down on all fours.

Suddenly the trophy flew out of Amy's hands, leaving a smaller piece in Beca's as it crashed through the glass window behind Amy.

Chloe watched in horror, unable to do anything. A cop had been writing a ticket for a vehicle out front and started walking towards the broken window.

"Amy." Beca called as Fat Amy started running down the hallway to her right, whimpering.

"Vertical running! I'm vertical running." She screamed as she went.

Chloe watched in stunned silence as Beca was trying to explain what happened as the cop was placing her in handcuffs.

"Don't worry, Beca. We'll get you out." Jesse yelled to her as she was being led back to the cop's car.

Chloe still couldn't move until Aubrey grabbed her arm and led them down the stairs.

"I'll call Beca's father." Jesse spoke out loud.

"Good than we can go wait for her in her room. Let's go Bellas." Aubrey hollered.

They eventually found Fat Amy panting and bent over holding her knees at the end of the hallway.

"Come on, Amy. We need to go. Beca's been arrested." Aubrey told her.

"Arrested?!" Fat Amy exclaimed. "How did they catch her?"

"She didn't run like you." Cynthia Rose told her.

"In Tasmania, we always run from the cops. We're the descendants of convicts over there." Fat Amy said off-handedly.


	3. Chapter 3

Beca was mortified as she walked with the policeman back to his car and was placed in the backseat. Her humiliation was renewed when she was taken into the station and booked. Because she was over eighteen, they didn't need to inform her parents. _Thank God for that._ She thought.

When Beca was led to a holding cell, there were three other people in there. All of them were woman, with two men in the holding cell next to them, sitting as far apart as possible. Two of the women in Beca's cell were sitting side by side, practically touching hips, while the other stood against the wall, staring at her from across the space.

Beca smirked, unsure of how to act, but unwilling to let them see her fear.

"Fresh meat." One of the two sitting together said quietly.

Beca hummed in her throat at the comment. She probably didn't look nearly as threatening as she had hoped considering she was still in her Bellas uniform. She hadn't managed to get her ear spikes back in before getting arrested either, so her only defense against these rather threatening looking women was her facial expressions. She hoped it wouldn't come to a fight as they each stood at least four inches taller than her five foot two inch frame.

"Cool it girls. She looks a little young to be a badass criminal. Not to mention how she's dressed." The woman standing alone told the other two.

Beca raised an eyebrow in challenge. It was a hard habit to break.

"What did you do, kid? Blow up your pilot's plane?" The only woman who hadn't spoken yet asked.

Beca sighed. So she wasn't the only one who thought she looked like a flight attendant.

"No." Beca growled.

"Oooo. Kitty's got claws." The first woman said.

"Quiet back there." One of the cops yelled from the front.

Beca rolled her eyes at the woman, glaring at the empty corner of the cell, thinking about moving that way.

"What? We not good enough for you to associate with?" The woman verbally prodded her again.

"Hardly." Beca mumbled.

"What was that?"

Beca huffed and moved to the empty corner, sliding down against the bars to sit on the ground with her knees propped up in front of her. Could this day get any worse?

The woman who seemed to like Beca the least stood up and walked towards Beca. Beca looked up without fear at the woman, waiting for the fight to start and for her ass to be laid out. She really should work on her attitude problem.

Before the woman could reach her though, the woman who'd been standing against the wall had shrugged away from the cement at her back and stood between Beca and the other woman, facing away from Beca.

"Leave her be, Butch."

Beca wondered if that was the woman's actual name or if it was a reference to her style; short brown spiked hair and black leather from head to toe.

The woman stared at the one defending Beca for a moment before relaxing a tad and giving a shrug.

"She ain't worth the trouble." The woman said before turning to sit next to the other woman again.

"Thanks." Beca said shortly to the woman when she turned around.

"No problem, kid."

"Mitchell! You made bail." A policeman called, opening the cell door.

"Finally." Beca huffed as she got to her feet.

Outside she met Jesse at the doors.

"Hey Hilary Swank from Million Dollar Baby." Jesse said by way of greeting.

"Hey, you know you just have to say, 'Hey, Million Dollar Baby.' You don't have to reference the specific actress." Beca said, playfully hitting him.

"Damn. Prison changed you." Jesse joked.

"Thanks for bailing me out." Beca said with a laugh in her voice.

"Well I didn't."

Beca looked to see her father getting out of his car. "You called my dad?"

"I know, I know, but they we putting you in handcuffs, Bec. It looked pretty serious."

"That doesn't mean you call my dad." Beca argued.

"Who else was I gonna call? Okay, why are you yelling at me? I'm the only one here."

"I didn't ask you to be."

"I was just trying to help you."

"I don't need your help, you're not my boyfriend." Beca said, turning away from him.

"Got it." She heard Jesse say behind her.

"Dad it's not a big deal." She tried to assure him.

He wasn't buying it though. "Yeah it is a big deal. I get a call in the middle of the night saying my daughter's been arrested for destruction of property."

"It was a misunderstanding and I was protecting my friends. I was putting myself out there. Making memories." She tried defending herself.

"If you think I'm paying for you to go to L.A. after a stunt like this, I'm not. Get in the car."

"You're not even gonna hear what I have to say about this?"

"No, not tonight. Just get in."

Beca jumped in the backseat, Jesse jumping in the front and rode back to Barden in silence.

* * *

Chloe and the other Bellas got back to campus, walking together to Beca's dorm room. Aubrey knocked on the door and Kimmy Jin answered.

"Beca's not here." She said before trying to shut the door.

Aubrey put her hand against the door and pushed it open though.

"We know. She got arrested and we're going to wait for her here. We won't bother you." She promised.

Chloe knew that that was an impossible promise with every Bella here with them. Fat Amy in particular wasn't shy about saying what was on her mind.

Chloe followed Aubrey as she pushed her way into the room and sat on Beca's bed. Aubrey sat in Beca's desk chair while the others joined Chloe on the bed.

 _Not exactly the way I pictured myself sitting on her bed for the first time._ Chloe thought. _This is where she sleeps at night._ Her thoughts became more and more distracted as time went on. _I wonder if that scowl leaves her face when she's sleeping. What would she look like when truly relaxed? Has she ever brought someone back to this bed?_

The thought temporarily disturbs Chloe and she makes a face that would have belied her thoughts if any of the Bellas had been paying attention to her. As it was, Aubrey was looking at the others while Cynthia Rose, Stacie and Fat Amy talked about what might be going on with Beca in jail. Chloe returned to her thoughts, not wanting to think about the things she'd heard about jail.

 _She probably never brought anyone back here anyways. She's so closed off. Jesse seems to be the only other person she talked to on a regular basis outside of practice. Does she even have any other friends? Maybe Jesse and her do have something going on._ A pang of doubt hit Chloe straight in the chest. _She's probably not even into women. But she did look at you in the shower… Maybe that was just curiosity, or the inability to help herself as you were standing in her personal space that she seems to love oh so much. You should work on that, Chlo._

Chloe had no idea how much time had passed before she heard Beca opening the door. Strange that the voices of the others had long since been put out of her mind, but the slight jingle of keys in the door pulled Chloe completely from her thoughts.

"Hey!" The Bellas said together.

Chloe watched Beca's cocky head bobbing before Fat Amy asked, "What up, Shawshank?"

"Did you get yourself a bitch?" Cynthia Rose asked next.

Chloe sure hoped the answer was no, Beca didn't reply to either question.

"Did they spray you with a hose?" Amy asked.

Lilly mumbled something Chloe didn't catch, but as she had heard a few of the mumbled things she'd said in the past, she wasn't sure she wanted to know what she said.

Beca smiled at the girls. "You guys waited up for me?"

Chloe sat up from the bed. "Of course we waited up for you."

* * *

Beca was surprised and touched that the Bellas would all be in her room waiting for her safe return. When Chloe shifted to sit up on the bed, Beca's heart skipped a beat for reasons unknown to her.

"They've been here for hours, Beca. It's a real inconvenience." Kimmy Jin said dully, grabbing her coat and walking out the door.

Beca's lips came together in a tight line, trying to hide her amusement and act ashamed, but her eyebrows rose and she was too happy to feel bad for her rather rude roommate.

"Beca," Aubrey said, pulling Beca's attention to her standing up from her desk chair. "I'm glad you're here. I'm calling an emergency Bella meeting."

"Noooo." Amy cried quietly.

"First up…" Aubrey said ignoring the obviously disapproving Bellas.

"Yess." Amy hissed.

"Our score sheet revealed that the Sockappellas almost beat us. And Fat Amy, you need to do it exactly how we rehearsed it, okay? No surprises."

"We should be taking risks. It's not enough to be good, we need to put ourselves out there, be different." Beca tried yet again to get Aubrey to see reason.

"Beca's right. The Trebles never sing the same song twice." Cynthia Rose backed her up.

"The audience love the Trebles, they tolerate us. We could change the face of a cappella if we…Oh my God, that sounded so queerballs. What's happening to me? Um..let me show you this arrangement I've been working on." Beca walked over to her laptop, intending on showing them her mixes.

Chloe followed behind her. "I didn't know you were into this stuff."

"Yeah." Beca said distracted.

"Okay, I have the pitch pipe, and I say that we focus on the setlist as planned. From now on, there will be no more wasting time with work or school or boyfriends or partners. Sorry, Cynthia Rose." Aubrey said.

"But Aubrey, this stuff is pretty cool. I mean…" Chloe tried to defend Beca again.

"Okay rehearsal tomorrow. 8:00am sharp." Aubrey cut them off.

Aubrey and most of the other Bellas walked out of the room. Fat Amy, Cynthia Rose and Chloe stayed back a bit longer.

"Thanks guys for waiting up for me. You really didn't have to."

"Don't worry, B. We wanted to." Cynthia Rose assured her.

"Totes. We couldn't just leave you." Chloe agreed.

"Aubrey kind of didn't give us a choice though." Fat Amy, always so blunt in her honesty.

"Well, thanks anyways." Beca said, meaning every word for once.

"So what were you about to show us?" Chloe asked, her bright smile spread wide across her face.

Beca looked at her new friend and smiled as she pulled out her chair and bent over her laptop without sitting down.

* * *

Chloe sat in the chair Beca had just pulled out of her way. She had a nice view of Beca's ass from this position, but she was staring at the back of Beca's head. This girl got to her in ways no one else ever had. Chloe had crushed on girls before, but never as hard as she was on Beca.

"Here it is." Beca said, distracting Chloe.

Beca unplugged her headphones from the computer and Chloe heard a mash-up of "Titanium" and "I'm Gonna Be" playing. Chloe wondered if Beca had even remembered her saying "Titanium" was her "lady jam".

 _Did she play this because of me? No, probably not. Focus, Chloe!_

Chloe stopped thinking and listened to the song through to the end. Fat Amy and Cynthia Rose were jamming out by Beca's bed. Beca was nodding her head as she watched each of their faces. Chloe could only smile and hope that her arousal wasn't showing on her face. Not only was her lady jam playing in a strange, yet awesome mash-up, but Beca had made it. And now Beca was watching Chloe intently. Chloe's heart skipped a few beats and her breath hitched in her throat.

* * *

Beca had just remembered the discussion she and Chloe had in her shower upon their second meeting. Chloe had told her "Titanium" was her lady jam and had asked her to sing it for her. Much to Beca's chagrin, Chloe had refused to leave her shower until she did and when Beca started, Chloe joined. Their harmonizing had been incredible. Beca had felt almost relaxed as she sang with Chloe then, despite her being completely naked in the shower with an equally naked stranger.

Beca wondered what was going through Chloe's mind as she watched a blush creep up in Chloe's cheeks as she watched her. Chloe's smile was wide, but somehow timid. Chloe was rarely shy as far as Beca knew. Maybe it was the song, but Beca had a feeling there was more to it.

Chloe fidgeted under Beca's gaze and she decided to give the girl a break. The song ended and Beca turned back to her computer.

"So, what did you guys think?"

"That was incredible, B!" Cynthia Rose praised her.

"A-ca-awesome." Fat Amy added.

Beca looked at Chloe for her thoughts.

"Totes." Chloe croaked with a broken, shaky voice.

Beca almost felt sorry for the redhead.

"Ok, well I should probably get to bed and you guys too. Aubrey will kill us all if we have bags under our eyes in rehearsal." Beca said, effectively kicking them all out.

Cynthia Rose and Fat Amy left with a wave and shouts of "see you later" and "sleep tight, Shawshank".

Chloe pulled Beca into a bear hug. "I'm so glad you're okay."

Beca patted her awkwardly on her back as her arms were trapped beneath Chloe's.

"Yeah, me too."

"See you at rehearsals tomorrow." Chloe said, leaving a light kiss on Beca's cheek before running out after the other two.

* * *

Beca's heart fluttered and her stomach flipped. Nobody kissed her cheek anymore. Not even her own mother. Beca didn't allow that kind of physical contact. Somehow, it didn't bother her when Chloe had done it.

* * *

Chloe jogged out the door and shut it behind her before stopping to take a breath. She didn't want to see if she had upset Beca with her impulsive kiss. _Stupid!_ Chloe chastised herself. She slowly walked back to the Bellas house, trying to control her still throbbing arousal from Beca's stare and the song. The song would now have new meaning for Chloe. When Chloe got back to the house, she grabbed her bathroom supplies and went to take a cold shower. She pressed play on the CD player she and Aubrey shared in the bathroom and of course, "Titanium" came on.

 _So much for that cold shower to calm my nerves._ Chloe thought. Her hand traveled down from where she was rubbing soap on her shoulders to her collarbones, across her breasts and did a few circles as the water cascaded over her sensitive flesh. Chloe gasped as the hard water hit her erect nipples. Her hands traveled lower as she listened to the song, imagining Beca singing it in the shower with her again. Her abdominal muscles constricted as her fingertips glided over them ever downward. When her nails grazed the top of her mound, Chloe bit her bottom lip, hard.

Chloe doesn't stop there though. She lets out a moan as her head falls back against the shower wall and her right hand trails lazily up and down her sensitive folds, sending a shockwave of arousal through her body. Her left had travels back up her body to hold her left shoulder as her right hand continues its ministrations. As the chorus plays again from the CD player, Chloe can clearly remember Beca's voice, her beautiful, naked body just inches from her own and Chloe's finger starts making small circles over her clit, dragging a groan from her now slightly parted lips.

Chloe has a fleeting thought of Aubrey and hopes she is already sleeping or at least that between the water and the music, she can't hear Chloe's sounds.

Gasping breaths escape Chloe's throat as her arousal continues to build inside of her. Just as Chloe's about to reach her peak, she slides two fingers inside herself and continues her circles with her thumb, thrusting said fingers deep within her core and pushing against her walls and pulling back out then shoving them back in again. Soft cries are now frequently coming from Chloe even as she tries to keep her lips together by biting the bottom one, but it keeps escaping her when she gasps again.

With a few more strokes and Chloe curling her fingers inside, Chloe's brows pull together, she bites her lips and her body goes stiff as her orgasm overtakes her. She crumples to the bottom of the shower when she's finished, her legs too weak to stand on.

It takes nearly ten minutes for Chloe to regain her ability to stand and when she does, she rinses the remaining soap from her body, shuts off the water and covers herself with a towel. A different song is playing now and for all Chloe knew, several more had before that. She had lost herself in the moment thinking only of Beca and her voice.

Chloe shut the CD player off as she walked past, heading back to her room. She didn't bother putting on clothes, she just pulled back the covers on her bed and dropped face first into it. After a minute or two she rolled to her side. Her towel had come untucked and was now just draped over her middle. Chloe lifted her hips and pulled the towel out from under her, throwing it to the floor and pulling her blankets back up over her before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Beca woke up on the morning of the a cappella Semi-finals and got dressed. As she was heading out, she heard one of her mixes playing over the campus radio station. Excitedly, she ran to the station and up to the booth where she began banging her hands against the glass and screaming to Luke inside.

"Hey! This is my track! You're playing my song right now! That is awesome! You like it? You put it on the radio! That is amazing!"

Luke exited the booth with a smile to talk to Beca. "It's a sick beat."

"Yeah, I always thought her beats were pretty sick." Jesse said, still upset with Beca and not liking Luke.

"Hey, Becky, listen spring break, I want you to take the night shift. Play your music. The DJ at the garage does a brilliant version of this, but yours? It's better."

"Yeah it is." Beca still couldn't wipe the stupid smile off her face.

"I'm gonna listen to her tonight. I think you should… You should come with."

Beca got the feeling Luke was asking her out on a date and as hot as Luke was with the solid abs and the English accent, Beca wasn't looking for a relationship. Especially when she didn't plan on sticking around after the end of the year.

"I have a thing." Beca told him.

Luke looked her up and down. "Flight attendant training?"

 _Oh, look. Another fan of the awesome Barden Bellas' uniforms._ Beca thought to herself. "It's Barden Bellas. I have the Semi-finals tonight."

Luke looked disappointed. "Really? I did not have you pegged as an a cappella girl."

Jesse started to pass them, heading out to meet the Trebles Beca figured. "That's 'cause you don't know _Becky_ like I do." He practically sneered at Luke. "See you tonight." He added to Beca.

After thanking Luke again for playing her music, Beca headed out to meet up with the other Bellas at the bus. Beca's wide smile and happy mood died instantly. Aubrey was already scolding each of them and saying they had to do it "exactly as they practiced". Beca could tell her stress meter was towards the top.

* * *

Chloe seen Beca walking towards them and a blush rose in her cheeks, but she gave Beca a welcoming smile, which Beca returned though the smile didn't reach her eyes the way Chloe loved so much.

The girls all hopped on the bus and Fat Amy started driving them towards the Semi-finals. Chloe pulled out her iPod and put her earbuds in. The tension between Aubrey and Beca as well as the awkward silence between the others was too much for her just now.

A little ways down the road and Fat Amy was stopping for gas.

"Okay, don't you flat-butts worry, I got this. I'm just gonna pump and dump." She said before getting off.

A few moments later, Chloe could hear Amy screaming at the back of the bus. Cynthia Rose jumped off the bus and rushed around to see what was wrong followed by Lilly and surprisingly, Beca. Chloe watched the moody brunette get off the bus and pass by her window as she went to help Amy. Chloe could hear voices, but wasn't sure what they were saying back there.

Chloe waited until she could see Beca and Cynthia Rose getting back on the bus. Chloe removed an earbud to hear what happened to Amy. Beca explained that Bumper had tossed his burrito out the Treble bus window and hit Fat Amy square in the chest. Amy was cleaning up in the gas station bathroom and when she returned, Chloe put her earbuds back in as they left.

Chloe watched Beca lean over Amy's shoulder a little later and she assumed she was speaking to her. Amy's head turned slightly, so she must have been responding, but Chloe's music was still playing in her ears so she hadn't heard any of it. Beca sat back down in her seat and Chloe looked out the window again. "Party in the U.S.A." started playing in her ears and she couldn't help but to sing along.

" _I hopped off the plane at L.A.X.  
With a dream and my cardigan"_

Chloe's attention fell to Cynthia Rose as she joined her for the second line.

" _Welcome to the land of fame excess (whoa),  
Am I gonna fit in?"_

Then a few other Bellas including Stacie and Fat Amy joined them.

" _Jumped in the cab,  
Here I am for the first time  
Look to my right and I see the Hollywood sign  
This is all so crazy"_

Then Aubrey joined in.

" _Everybody seems so famous  
My tummy's turnin' and I'm feelin' kinda home sick  
Too much pressure and I'm nervous,"_

Chloe seen Aubrey's head turn to Beca, who happened to be the only one not singing now.

" _That's when the taxi man turned on the radio"_

Chloe leaned forward in her seat, catching Beca's attention and earning herself a smile and a laugh.

" _And a Jay-Z song was on  
And a Jay-Z song was on"_

Now Stacie was out of her seat, leaning towards Beca.

" _And a Jay-Z song was on"_

The whole group stopped singing and waited for Beca. Chloe raised her eyebrows at her in challenge and nodded at her.

Beca broke out into song then, leading them into the chorus.

" _So I put my hands up  
They're playing my song,  
The butterflies fly away  
I'm noddin' my head like yeah  
Movin' my hips like yeah"_

Chloe had removed one earbud and occasionally looked over to Beca who was dancing and shimmying her body in her seat.

" _I got my hands up,  
They're playin' my song  
I know I'm gonna be OK  
Yeah, it's a party in the U.S.A.  
Yeah, it's a…"_

Slowly the Bellas stopped singing as the bus started making funny noises and was slowing down.

"It's a…it's…woah." Fat Amy said.

"What the hell?" Aubrey asked.

"Um…it's pretty cool actually. I think we're just running out of gas." Amy explained.

"No, that can't be. You just filled the tank."

"Yeah, I did. And, yet maybe I didn't, because I got hit by flying Mexican food. And…we're out." Amy pulled the bus to the side of the road and put it in park.

"A-ca-scuse me?!" Aubrey cried.

"A-ca-believe it." Amy mocked. "Man, what are we gonna do?"

"Maybe we could call…" Chloe started to suggest, but Aubrey cut her off.

"No, don't even say it, Chloe how dare you?"

"No, actually that is a really good idea, I've got Bumpers number." Amy was saying.

"Why do you have Bumper's number?" Aubrey asked accusingly.

"Uhhhh….uuhhhhhhhhhhhh….." Amy wasn't able to come up with a good excuse.

They eventually did call the Trebles and they came back to pick up the Bellas. They were now awkwardly sitting with the Trebles on one side and the Bellas on the other.

Donald was beat boxing as he drove down the road.

"So, Bellas…what boring, estrogen-filled set have you prepared for us this evening?" Bumper asked, surely trying to rile up Aubrey and the other Bellas.

Fat Amy was the one to answer him though. "Excuse me? But you guys are gonna get pitch-slapped so hard, your man boobs are gonna concave."

Beca had to pull her lips tightly together to stop herself from laughing and Chloe smiled at her reaction.

"Nine miles guys." Donald called over his shoulder.

A few more arguments between the Trebles and the Bellas took place, but Chloe was too caught up in Beca to care.

* * *

When they reach the Semi-finals, Aubrey has kicked it up a notch on her stress meter. Beca's pretty sure she's at her max without spilling over. She can practically see the anxiety rolling off of Aubrey's shoulders.

"Five minutes Bellas." Is called to them.

They were watching the group currently on stage with a very talented kid singing lead. "Where did he come from?!" Stacie asks Aubrey, who immediately shushes her.

"It's over. There's no way we can beat the Footnotes and the Trebles." Fat Amy whines.

"A-ca-huddle, now." Aubrey calls to them. "The top two teams go to the finals, so we just have to beat one of them. And if we do it exactly how we rehearsed it, we will get there, okay? Exactly. Hands in."

"On three or after three?" One of them asks.

"Screw it. Let's just do it." Aubrey says, dropping her hand and walking towards the stage.

"Put your hands together for the Barden Bellas!" A man's voice says by way of introduction.

The male commentator starts talking as they take the stage. "Okay, the Bellas are coming out. Another step in this competition and…"

Aubrey blows the pitch pipe and counts to four. As they go into their first song, Beca notices the judges and several audience members, again, lose interest and start yawning, shrugging and looking into their laps. Though, it's not until Beca looks to her left and sees the previous group mocking them as they dance along that Beca takes a deep breath and starts singing "Bulletproof" while Aubrey is singing "The Sign". Chloe shoots her a look and Beca can see Aubrey's shoulders tense, but she doesn't falter. Several of the other Bellas look at her in surprise, but the judges and audience are interested again.

By the end of it, Aubrey and Beca share a tense moment that the commentators catch and comment on. Deciding not to push Aubrey over the top, Beca lets the next two songs go as planned.

As they finish their set and head backstage, Beca can't help but feel proud of herself and the other Bellas. But her pride is short lived when Aubrey catches up to her.

"What the hell Beca? Were you trying to screw us up?" Aubrey shrieked.

"Are you serious?" Beca asked, truly disbelieving of Aubrey's ignorance of the crowd.

"Newsflash. This isn't the Beca Show."

"Okay, I'm sorry that I messed you up, but in case you hadn't noticed, everybody pretty much dozed off during our set."

"It's not your job to decide what we do and when we do it. Why don't you ask the rest of the group how they felt about your little improvisation?"

Beca's eyes immediately turned to Chloe, but the red haired captain looked away.

Beca then turned to look at Amy.

* * *

Chloe felt bad about not defending Beca, but she could see where Aubrey was coming from and Beca might just have gone too far this time in trying to change her stubborn best friend's mind.

"Amy?" Chloe heard Beca call her name as a question.

Amy jerked her eyes up to Beca. "It was cool. But it did take us a little bit by surprise."

"Yeah, a lot like surprise." Aubrey jumped back in.

"Mmmm a little." Amy said, clearly thinking the act was at least better than it was.

"I told you she wasn't a Bella." Aubrey spat.

"Aubrey, don't." Chloe started to argue, but Beca cut her off.

"No, that's okay. You don't have to pretend you're allowed to have a say in the group, right?" Beca said, looking at Chloe.

Chloe's stomach dropped. She supposed she might deserve that, but it still hurt nonetheless.

"Your attitude sucks. You're a grade-A pain in my ass, and I know you're hooking up with Jesse." Aubrey kept tearing into the short brunette.

Suddenly Jesse was there defending Beca having heard Aubrey's accusation. "Woah, woah, Aubrey, calm down. We're not hooking up, I swear."

Chloe looked down and breathed a sigh of relief. At least her fears were deemed unnecessary.

"Jesus Christ! That's perfect. Of course you're here right now. I don't need your help, okay? Can you back off?" Beca snapped at the guy.

Jesse looked rather hurt by her words, but Beca didn't seem to notice.

"If this is what I get for trying…" Beca trailed off, holding up her hands before she turned and walked away from them.

Chloe watched in shock as Beca walked away.

"Aubrey, it actually went really well." Chloe tried again.

"Chloe, stop!" Aubrey yelled at her before walking away as well.

"Oh my God. Okay." Chloe huffed as she tried to get herself under control.

Eventually it was announced that the Bellas had gotten third again and would not be moving on to Finals. Aubrey ran out, practically in tears. Chloe felt bad for the girl as this was her last chance. Aubrey was a senior while Chloe was still a junior. Chloe had another year to get it right, but this was it for Aubrey and she had failed. Chloe knew she should feel more upset for Aubrey, but part of her felt that if she had only listened to more of what Beca and the others had been saying, they might not have lost.

When everyone was just standing around, Chloe took her place as their leader. Without Aubrey they had no one else to turn to.

"Alright guys, let's get out of here." She said sullenly as she led them out.


	4. Chapter 4

Spring break started the next day and Beca had started her night shifts at the radio station. She pressed play on another song and began browsing through the CD's in the booth. She found the soundtrack for "The Breakfast Club" and it reminded her of Jesse's enthusiasm for the movie. She really had said some stuff she didn't mean. She was happy to have had someone there when she needed them, but it was hard for her to accept when she'd never had anyone before. She also felt bad about Chloe. She'd held more venom in her voice for the ginger than she'd meant to.

"Cue the Hell fire." Beca mumbled to herself thinking of how she always seemed to turn into a bitch from Hell when she got defensive or angry.

She decided to rent "The Breakfast Club" and watch it all the way through. The first movie in forever that she'd truly have watched.

Beca was sitting on her bed, getting ready to watch the movie when Kimmy Jin tapped on the window to tell her friends she'd be right there, then said good-bye to Beca.

"Happy spring break."

Beca was stunned and could only reply with, "Thanks".

Beca turned off all the lights and by the end of the movie, tears were rolling down her cheeks, just as Jesse had promised they would. Between the movie and how much she was hating herself and missing her friends, Beca couldn't stop the flow for a few seconds.

"Oh my God. Okay." She said to herself, wiping her cheeks with her palms and wrists.

Beca wished she had Jesse to watch the movie with and talk about it afterwards, but he was likely not too happy with her after their last talk. Then Beca thought of texting Chloe, but that wouldn't be fair after how she'd talked to her either. Beca had gotten so used to having someone to turn to that it was especially lonely now that she had no one again.

"Why am I such a bitch?" She asked herself quietly as she began to cry again.

* * *

Chloe had felt bad about not telling anyone about her plans. She figured she would have the surgery to remove her nodes because of how painful they were, despite being told she may not be able to recover her vocal range. The Bellas' season was over though and she'd have plenty of time between now and next season for her vocal chords to recover properly.

Chloe was laying in her hospital bed post-operation, listening to her iPod though she couldn't sing along when the nurse walked in. Chloe removed one earbud when her phone vibrated on the table over her lap. Chloe read the text from Aubrey and started pounding on the table top excitedly knowing she wasn't allowed to use her vocal chords for some time yet.

Aubrey's text had just informed Chloe that the Bellas were back in the Finals as the group that had advanced with the Trebles had been disqualified due to their lead singer being in high school still. Chloe texted Beca almost immediately, hoping the moody brunette would still be part of the Bellas when she got back. She didn't receive a reply, but she had hopes.

Chloe's mood dwindled as she thought about her situation though, remembering where she was and what she had just done. Chloe had just found out the Bellas where going to the Finals and she had gone through with the surgery to remove her nodes, irrevocably changing her vocal range. The doctor had even told her she may never get her full vocal range back. Chloe put down her phone and leaned back into her pillows, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

 _What am I going to tell Aubrey?_

* * *

Beca looked at her latest text message from Chloe. She still wasn't sure what to tell the girl, so she hadn't replied to any of them. She knew the Bellas were going to the Finals now and she knew they had their first post Semi-finals rehearsal in about an hour, but she didn't know if she wanted to go.

She realized she did want to go, but her pride kept her from getting off her butt and heading out. _I'm my own worst enemy._ Beca thought to herself. She poured over her year so far at Barden University. She really had grown to like the Bellas with the exception of Aubrey. Chloe had become a really good friend and she even liked Cynthia Rose and Fat Amy. She didn't really hang out with the other girls, but she got along with them, which was more than she could say for some people.

Jesse was another person she had grown attached to. She hadn't been worried about this happening at the beginning of the year, but with her father's prodding, she had fallen right into the college trap. She'd made personal connections and gotten attached to a couple of people she didn't want to leave behind so fast.

She figured that might be a moot point by now though. She'd definitely made some memories here at Barden, but if she wanted to make anymore good ones before the end of the year, she needed to apologize. Beca practically gagged on the thought as her pride fought her every step of the way, but she got off her bed and headed over to Jesse's dorm. Better start there as that seemed to be the easier task.

* * *

Chloe walked in to Bellas practice and heard the other girls talking amongst themselves.

"I texted Beca." Chloe said to Aubrey.

"You did what?" Aubrey cried.

"She makes us better." Chloe said, standing up for herself for once.

"That's not an opinion for you to have, Chloe."

"Why? Because it's not yours? You're not always right you know." Chloe finally had the nerve to say to her stubborn best friend.

"We will win without her." Aubrey said, ignoring Chloe's pointed remark.

Chloe fell in line as Aubrey led them through their routine again and again. They weren't getting much better though.

* * *

Beca knocked on Jesse's door. No one answered, but she knew he had to be there.

"Jesse, I know you're in there. I can smell popcorn. Jesse, come on. Open up." Jesse finally opened the door and Beca tried to get up the nerve to say what she wanted to say. "Hey. I tried to call you. I left a bunch of messages."

"Yeah, I got them."

"I'm sorry that we fought. I was mad and I overreacted and I'm just…Aubrey makes me crazy." Beca thought for sure Jesse would accept her apology and they could move on with their friendship. The apology felt like acid in her mouth though.

Jesse did not just let it go though. "Seriously? You think I'm mad because you yelled at me?"

"No, I know…" Beca tried to explain what she meant, but Jesse cut her off.

"No, you don't. You think you know, but you don't. You push away anyone who could possibly care about you. Why is that?"

Beca didn't really have an answer for him. "I don't know."

"Well, you better figure it out because I'm done with…Whatever this is." Jesse said starting to shut the door.

"Jesse…"

"I'm done."

Beca stared at the closed door for a moment before turning to leave. So much for her apologizing. If this hadn't worked, apologizing to the Bellas wasn't going to be much better.

* * *

"Okay, stop! What is happening to us?" Aubrey ranted. "Chloe, you sound like you smoke three packs a day. Stacie, you are so behind on choreography. And Jessica and Ashley, it's like you haven't been here all year long."

"Aubrey, really? We've literally been here the whole time." One of the two complained.

"Aubrey, please just give us a break. It's kind of not the same without everyone here." Fat Amy speaks up, clearly indicating Beca's absence.

Chloe is thankful the others are starting to stand up to Aubrey. She's obviously not getting it through the blonde's thick skull on her own.

"We need Beca." Cynthia Rose adds, finishing Fat Amy's thoughts.

"Maybe if Aubrey loosened the reins a little bit." Chloe snapped.

"Okay, shut it Chloe!" Aubrey yells.

"Woah!" Stacie says, surprised by Aubrey's acidic tone.

"Oh, I'm sorry. That was rude. Chloe, could you please get your head out of your ass? It's not a hat."

Chloe stares at her friend in stunned silence.

"A-ca-awkward!" Amy comments.

"Again!" Aubrey calls, starting their routine from the top.

Chloe jumps back in line, but is no less upset than before. Though she may hold out a bit more hope as the other girls seem to finally have had enough of Aubrey and are ready to take a stand.

* * *

Beca somehow found herself at her father's house complaining to him about the Bellas and Jesse and everything that had happened since the Semi-finals.

"No one was more surprised than me, but I really like those girls." Beca confessed to her father.

Thankfully Sheila wasn't around or Beca might have had an even harder time opening up.

"And you thought quitting was the answer?" Her father asked.

Beca couldn't help but lash out at him. "Seriously? You can say that to me?" She could recall how he'd divorced her mother and just left her behind.

"Come on, Bec, that's so unfair. Look your mom and I, we didn't work. But I tried so hard to make things right between us. But you just shut me out."

Beca sighed. It was practically the same thing Jesse had said to her. "Yeah, well, I shut everybody out. Don't take it personally. It's just easier."

"It's also really lonely." He pointed out.

Beca had to admit her life had been rather lonely. Maybe that was why she had such a hard time socializing with people. Why she bit the heads off of people who disrespected her or said something negative about her. Even people who looked at her funny.

"What do I do?" Beca practically pleaded. She hated how weak her voice sounded in her own ears, but she was so tired of the confusion and pain.

"Well, that's up to you."

 _Some advice._ Beca thought, but she figured he was right. She sat there for a little while longer, making up her mind.

"Okay. I think I need to go." Beca told him, intending on heading over to the Bellas' practice that was undoubtedly still going on.

* * *

"I have been there for you for so many years, and all you do is treat me like shit!" Chloe shouted at the blonde co-captain.

"Alright, no, okay, just shut up! Everyone! Come on, I joined this group so I could hang out with a bunch of really cool chicks. And also 'cause I was really sick of all my boyfriends and I need to get away from that. But this is some serious horseshit. What's that smell? Stinks everywhere. I don't wanna be like the old Bellas." Fat Amy broke them up.

"Yeah. I wanna be how we are now." Cynthia Rose agreed, walking past the fighting captains.

"Me too." Lilly whispered, following her.

"We should have listened to Beca." Chloe added, turning to follow the others who were now all sitting down on the bleachers.

Aubrey turned to face them. "Oh, so this is my fault?"

"That's not what I'm saying." Chloe huffed, though that was kind of what she was saying.

She didn't want to be mean to her best friend, because that didn't come so easily to her, but she knew she had to make a point with Aubrey.

"No, no, no, that's what you're all thinking, isn't it? That I'm the jerk. I am the girl obsessed with winning."

"Aubrey, you're too controlling and it's gonna ruin all of us."

"You know what? I can lose control if I want to. I can let go. This time I'm not gonna choke it down."

Aubrey had worked herself up to a point Chloe had seen before and she waited for it. The girls behind her watched in confusion. Aubrey bent over, holding her knees before letting out a stream of projectile vomit.

"Come on, bring it! You can do better than that! That's all you got?" Chloe taunted as Aubrey's torrent of puke continued.

"Enough! Enough!" Fat Amy was screaming as Aubrey kept going.

When Aubrey was finished, Chloe screamed out, "We could have been champions!" And started chasing her around the room. "Give me the pitch pipe, you bitch! Give it to me! Give it to me! Give it to me!" Chloe shouted when Fat Amy had caught Aubrey and was holding her in place.

"Never!" Aubrey shouted as she was being tossed from one side of Fat Amy to the other.

Lilly now was pushing in on the fight and Stacie had run forward followed by Cynthia Rose.

"I'll protect you. I'll protect you." Cynthia Rose cried, holding Stacie back by her boob.

"Hands off my goodies!" Stacie growled.

Fat Amy, in an attempt to get Lilly off of her, pushed the quiet girl who fell and landed in the puddle of vomit on the floor. Stacie started blowing her rape whistle as Cynthia Rose had failed to let go of her.

The pitch pipe flew from Aubrey's hands and she and Chloe dove for it, trying to keep it from the other.

"Move you bitches!" Amy yelled, diving behind them.

Lilly was now making a vomit-angel where she lay in Aubrey's puke.

* * *

Beca entered the auditorium to find all the Bellas fighting amongst themselves. Chloe, Aubrey and Fat Amy were wrestling in a ball on the floor. Lilly was laying in a pool of what Beca guessed was throw-up making something akin to a snow angel. The shrill sounds of a whistle were coming from where Cynthia Rose was bent over Stacie's backside on the bleachers facing away from Beca. The other girls were in various positions and she ran forward to interrupt them.

"Guys! Guys, stop! What is going on?" Beca yelled, getting their attention.

All of them froze before Aubrey could get to her feet and start pointing at Beca.

"Nothing. Nothing. This is a Bella's rehearsal."

"I know. I just…wanted to say that I'm sorry." Beca wanted to bite her tongue and be anywhere but here, but at the same time she knew that right here is where she wanted to be so she had to get this over with. "What I did was a really dick move and I shouldn't have changed the set without asking you guys. And I definitely shouldn't have left. I let you guys down and I'm really sorry. And…Aubrey, if you would have me, I want back in."

Beca waited nervously for the one person that did not like her in the group to accept her apology and allow her to join again, because it was ultimately up to her.

When Aubrey paused for just a bit too long, Beca grabbed a chair and started heading out the door, pausing every few steps to look over her shoulder at the blonde. Aubrey's arms were stubbornly folded over her chest and she only fidgeted as Beca continued.

"Aubrey." Chloe pushed when Aubrey was still silent.

Beca was almost to the door before Aubrey hollered, "Wait."

Beca dropped the chair and walked back to the group. "Thank you. That would have been embarrassing."

"Beca, I know that I've been hard on you, okay? I know that I've been hard on everyone here. But I am my father's daughter. And he always said, 'if at first you don't succeed, pack your bags'." Aubrey said.

Chloe nodded to confirm her words. And then it all clicked for Beca, why Aubrey was so mean to her. Father's could be pushy when they wanted their child to do something and if Aubrey's was as hard on her as she was on herself and others, then Beca could muster up a bit of sympathy for the girl.

"Jesus." She heard one of the girls say.

"I get it. Mine gets on me too. Not like that, but…" Beca trailed off. "I guess we don't really know that much about each other. About most of you really." Beca realized she hadn't had a personal conversation with anyone but Chloe really and even that hadn't gone too deep.

"Well, I'll confess something that none of you really know about me. I have a lot of sex." Stacie said, leading them into a confessions session.

"Yeah, we know Stacie." You could practically here Fat Amy's eyes rolling.

"Only 'cause I just told you." Stacie snapped.

"This is a good idea. That was a pretty bad example, but this is a good idea. Why don't we all go around the room, and we can all say something about ourselves that nobody else knows." Beca suggested, pulling a few chairs into a circle.

* * *

Chloe rolled her eyes, but joined the others as they each took a seat and waited for someone to start talking.

"Okay, I got something. This is hard for me to admit to you guys." Cynthia Rose stood up to make her confession.

"I think we all know where this is going." Fat Amy stage whispered. "Les-be-honest"

"Well, for the last two years, I've had a serious gambling problem."

"What?" Fat Amy asked, followed by Beca's, "What?"

"It started when I broke up with my girlfriend." She finished.

Fat Amy apparently couldn't hold in her comment as if Chloe expected anything different. "Whoomp! There it is."

"Anyone else?" Beca asked.

Chloe had to admit this seemed to be working though she was still quite upset with Aubrey for all the trouble she'd caused.

Lilly raised her hand and said something that Beca seemed to find disturbing. Chloe met her eyes, a question plain to see when Amy spoke up.

"What?"

"Okay. Um…Fat Amy?" Beca pushed.

"I'm an open book." A laughing tone takes over as she continues. "I mean, for God's sake you guys all call me Fat Amy. See, I guess I'm just not really living if I'm not 100% honest." There's a pause before she rushes on. "And my real name is Fat Patricia."

"What?" One of the other Bellas asks.

Aubrey huffs in surprise and Chloe raises her eyebrows, but doesn't say anything.

Then it was Beca's turn and Chloe paid close attention to what her crush had to say. "Okay, I've never really been one of those girls who had a lot of friends who were girls. And I do now. And that's pretty cool." Chloe could tell it had been hard for her to say all that. A smile spread across Beca's face before she got nervous about the silence. "So, that's me. Someone else please go."

Chloe took the next turn, having worked up the courage to tell the others about her surgery. "Okay. Over spring break, I made the courageous decision to remove my nodes." There was an audible gasp from Aubrey before she continued. "I know. The doctor said that I can't sing above a G-sharp, maybe ever." Chloe is close to tears at this point and she hears Beca gasp in sympathy.

* * *

Beca couldn't believe what Chloe had just said. Chloe loved to sing, how could she sacrifice her voice? Her passion?

"I thought this season was over." Chloe was choking back tears as she sat back down. "It's okay, it's okay." She whispered to a worried Aubrey.

Aubrey suddenly rose from her seat. "Beca," Beca rose to her feet as well looking confused. "what do we do?"

Aubrey tossed the pitch pipe across the circle to Beca, but it bounced off her palm and landed in the puddle of vomit.

"I'm sorry." Aubrey apologizes.

"Maybe not here." Beca says pointing to the vomit.

Beca leads the girls out to the empty pool where they held the Riff-Off. "Alright, let's remix this business." She says to them. "Um..Aubrey, would you pick a song for us, please?" She asks, attempting to be respectful to the rightful captain.

"Bruno Mars, 'Just The Way You Are'." Aubrey chooses to the surprise of almost everyone there.

"Okay. Um…Chloe, are you okay to take the lead?" Beca asks, for some reason wanting to put the spotlight on her friend. Maybe as an apology to her even.

Chloe nods, folding her hands in front of herself. "Yeah."

Beca thinks for a second, bringing the song to the front of her brain. She counts out a few silent beats with her hands before starting in with a high pitched "doot" sound, repeating it to the beat. Aubrey joins her and when she has taken over that, Beca starts on a new sound, backing her up with a few "ooo's". Cynthia Rose is the first to join her with the new sounds and then the others start picking up on it.

Beca breaks off, leaving them to it and turns her attention to Chloe, giving her a nod to start when she's ready. Chloe takes a breath and starts on the appropriate beat.

" _Oh, her eyes, her eyes make the stars look like they're not shining  
Her hair, her hair falls perfectly without her trying  
She's so beautiful  
And I tell her everyday"_

At this point, Beca jumps in with "Just a Dream".

" _Uh, uh. I was thinkin' 'bout her  
Thinkin' 'bout me  
Thinkin 'bout us  
What we gonna be  
But it was only just a dream_

This was all layered over Chloe, still singing "Just the Way You Are".

Beca held the last note as Chloe finished her next line.

" _She doesn't see what I see"_

Beca pointed at Aubrey, still moving her hand to the beat like she was conducting them. Aubrey caught what Beca was doing as she smiled and nodded to her.

" _When I see your face (So I travel back down that road. Will she come back no one knows)  
There's not a thing that I would change (I realize, this is only just a dream)"  
'Cause you're amazing  
Just the way you are (It was only just a dream)"_

Beca started stomping her foot and clapping her hands to the beat of "Just a Dream" while the girls still sang the beat for "Just the Way You Are" and jumped back in with Aubrey.

" _When I see your face (So I travel back down that road. Will she come back no one knows)  
There's not a thing that I would change (I realize, this is only just a dream)"  
'Cause you're amazing  
Just the way you are (It was only just a dream)  
When I see your face (Face)"_

The last note was held and everyone had a smile firmly planted on their face.

"Hands in." Aubrey says cheerfully.

"One, two…" they all count together. "Ahhhh"

They all cut short as a strange, extremely low sound escapes Chloe's mouth.

* * *

Chloe is shocked to hear such a sound come out of her mouth and clasps her hand over her lips.

"What was that?" Fat Amy asked.

"I don't know. I've never made that sound before." Chloe says, holding a hand to her throat.

"Yo, but with your messed up vocal cords, you could hit the bass notes." Cynthia Rose suggests.

"Do you know what that means?" Aubrey asks, then Lilly's hand flies up. "Yes, Lilly?"

"I think I have something that can help us out." She says loud enough for them all to hear.

"Excuse me bitch, you don't need to shout." Fat Amy jokes, holding her hand out towards the girl with her palm out.

"Okay, don't get mouthy." Beca adds, linking arms with the girl.

* * *

Chloe went back to the Bellas house with Aubrey after they all left the pool. She couldn't contain the smile on her face as she thought over the night again. She kept replaying the mash-up in her mind and hearing and seeing Beca so confident as she lead them through their first break in the Barden Bellas' tradition.

Aubrey had been reluctant to let go of the reigns and hand them over, but Chloe believed it would be for the best. Chloe also believed that her feelings for Beca had moved past crush and into the start of falling in love with her. Beca still didn't know about Chloe's romantic feelings, but she hoped she'd have the courage to change that soon. But would Beca even accept her? Or would she completely reject her? Chloe had never been so scared in her life.

"Breathe, Chloe. Everything is gonna be alright." Chloe said to herself in her room.

Aubrey must have been standing in her doorway though, because she was suddenly behind Chloe, speaking.

"You nervous about Finals?" Aubrey asked, misreading the situation.

Chloe nodded. "A bit, but I believe Beca will come up with something spectacular."

"It's got me a little on edge. I don't do so well without complete control."

Chloe pursed her lips, looking down then back up again. "You don't do so well with complete control either." She added a smile at the end to show she was teasing Aubrey.

Aubrey smiled in good humor. "Yes, I suppose you're right."

"Took you this long to figure that out?"

"It's not easy for me to face failure. I'd never hear the end of it from my father."

"I know, Aubrey. I was just messing with you."

There was a short silence between them before Aubrey spoke again.

"So what's really going on? And don't tell me it's about the Finals. You aren't worried enough about them for you to tell yourself to breathe."

Aubrey could be rather observant when she wasn't stressing about her own problems.

Chloe grimaced. "Well…"

"Spit it out, Chlo!" Aubrey cried, agitated with Chloe's hesitation, though not angry.

"I kind of have a crush on Beca." She rushed to say, the words almost sounding like one long word.

Aubrey was stunned. "Oh."

"Don't look at me like that. You know I've liked girls in the past." Chloe reminded her.

"Yes, but Beca? Not who I would have thought you'd go for."

"Why not?" Chloe asked, furrowing her brows.

"She's so alternative. I'd have thought you'd go for someone more like Stacie… Just with a few more brain cells."

Chloe pushed Aubrey lightly, playfully. "Stop it! I care about more than looks. Beca can be caring, she's just a bit more reserved than most." Chloe's mind traveled back through her memories, getting lost in her own head. "She's funny, strong, passionate."

"Oh, boy." Aubrey interrupted her thoughts.

Chloe came back to herself with a blank look, which turned to confusion. "What?"

"You've got it bad. Are you sure it's just a crush? How long have you liked her?"

Chloe blushed. "Since I saw her at the Activities Fair."

"Chloe! Why didn't you say anything?!" Aubrey asked.

Chloe could tell her friend was hurt by her not telling her sooner.

"Well, you didn't seem to like her and I thought maybe I'd just get over it as time passed."

"Obviously you haven't." Aubrey interjected.

"No." Chloe's blush darkened. "Especially after I walked in on her shower."

"You did what?! Chloe! The shower is no place to be making friends!"

Chloe laughed at Aubrey's appalled expression. "I was in there with Tom when I heard her singing and I couldn't help myself. I had to know who had such a lovely voice. She was singing 'Titanium' and…"

"That explains it." Aubrey said, being fully aware of Chloe's "lady jam" song.

Chloe blushed even harder if possible. "Yeah. Anyways, so I pulled the curtain aside and there she was, facing the wall singing away."

"What did she do?" Aubrey asked, now caught up in the story.

"She sort of yelled at me."

"Well, that's to be expected. Seriously, Chlo."

"I told her she had to audition for the Bellas and then I asked her to sing for me. She must have found me rather pervish as I'd just told her what the song meant to me." Chloe grimaced. "I must have had something to drink that night, because I was a bit overly flirtatious."

"You think?" Aubrey drawled.

"Shut up." Chloe giggled. "So, yeah. I refused to leave her shower until she sang for me and then I sang with her."

"So that's why you fought so hard for me to let her in." Aubrey sighed when she finally knew why Chloe wanted the alt-girl so badly.

"It's not gotten any better. My desire for her I mean. I think I'm in love with her." Chloe finished quietly, biting her bottom lip.

"Oh, Chlo." Aubrey hugged her tightly and Chloe placed her face against the blonde's shoulder.

"What am I gonna do?" Chloe asked.

"Tell her the truth. Not much more you can do."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I actually almost didn't include this bit, but my younger sister helped me work on it and it was the only part I had outside assistance with and I wanted her contribution to be added because she is starting to write her own stories. Sentimental purposes I suppose... Anyways, I hope you enjoy it.**

The next day at rehearsals, Beca walked in to find just about everyone already there with the last few girls trailing in behind her. Chloe and Aubrey stood in front of the chairs as usual, but today as Beca moved towards the chairs to take a seat, Chloe waved her up to where she stood. An excited, cheery smile spread across Chloe's face and Beca was stunned for a moment by the amount of light that one smile gave off. Beca swore Chloe's smile could light the darkest room if she tried.

Beca walked up to Chloe who gave her a hug, which Beca didn't have time to return, before letting her go to stand beside them. Aubrey's lips possessed a small smile for Beca, which confused Beca even more, then Aubrey handed Beca the marker she used on the white board.

Beca turned to find the white board wiped clean and her eyebrows shot up in shock. The complex web chart Aubrey had written at the beginning of the year, that had them planned all the way to Finals, was no longer there. Beca peeked behind the board to see if she'd just flipped it, but that side was blank too. Chloe laughed, catching Beca's attention and Aubrey's smile widened.

When everyone was sitting, Chloe and Aubrey stepped aside, leaving the Bellas' attention solely on her.

"Um…okay." Beca hesitated as she stared at Chloe and Aubrey for answers, which they didn't give. Chloe just nodded at her enthusiastically. "Where to start?" She thought out loud.

"A new setlist might be a good idea." Fat Amy said in her usual blunt, offhand tone.

"Let's get a few soul songs in there." Cynthia Rose said, nodding her head as she spoke.

"This is good." Beca said turning to the board and writing "Setlist" on the board. "Give some options here and we'll play with it."

Nobody spoke at first, but then Chloe spoke. "How about 'Party in the U.S.A.'?"

Chloe and Beca shared a wide smile before Beca wrote it on the board. "Perfect." She said as she finished. "What else?"

Stacie raised her hand and Beca nodded to her. "'Call Me Maybe'."

"I might be able to do something with that." Beca said, adding it to the list.

Another pause before Cynthia Rose called out, "'Give Me Everything'".

Beca paused. "Excuse me?" She asked, her eyes widening comically.

Cynthia Rose laughed. "The song, Beca."

Beca tossed her hand as if to tell herself she was dumb. "Oh, right."

It then was added to the list.

"And I think we should leave a bit of tradition in our new sound." Beca said, surprising everyone as she wrote "Turn the Beat Around" on the board.

Beca looked to Aubrey who smiled widely. They knew it was an unspoken apology by Beca and a sign of respect. The other Bellas watched the exchange and smiled and nodded their approval.

"Ok. Give me more. I want a decent list to play with." Beca said, turning back to the other girls.

"'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together'." Ashley suggested a little shyly.

Beca thought a moment before writing it on the board. "Ok."

"Throw 'Just the Way You Are' up there for Aubrey." Fat Amy said.

Beca laughed, but did as she was told. Aubrey seemed touched by how much the girls were trying to make her feel accepted still. Even after everything, they still respected her. They understood her better now. Beca watched as a tear slid down the tall blonde's face.

Lilly raised her hand and when Beca said her name, she again spoke loud enough for them all to hear. "'Price Tag'."

Beca smiled both at the suggestion and the fact that Lilly was almost speaking above a whisper.

"'Gangnam Style'." Fat Amy yelled, jumping up to start dancing like Psy in the music video.

Beca closed her eyes and let out a sigh before adding it to the list.

"Okay. I think we have just about enough, I just want to add one more." Then Beca wrote "Don't You (Forget About Me)" on the board.

* * *

Chloe watched Beca write the song title on the board and her smile slipped. She knew it was for Jesse. Beca had mentioned once that Jesse had tried to get her to watch "The Breakfast Club" and had only succeeded in getting her to watch the end and Chloe knew that movie well enough to know that song was the one that played through the credits.

Aubrey noticed Chloe's slip and rubbed a small circle on her back in concern. Chloe shook her head and tried to smile again, but it felt sad even to herself. Aubrey didn't look convinced either, but she didn't draw attention to them.

Okay. I'll work on the setlist on my own time, but I am not going to be able to come up with choreography for it." Beca said, turning to Chloe and Aubrey.

Chloe smiled again as Beca looked at her. She hoped her eyes weren't filled with tears like she felt. Aubrey stepped forward, effectively hiding Chloe's face from the others so she must have been about to spill over.

"Chloe and I can work on choreography when you have the set finished."

"Cool." Beca said.

Chloe could feel Beca's eyes searching for hers, but she backed up a little more to keep her from seeing the shining in her eyes.

There was a short pause before Beca said, "Well. I can't think of anything else, so…unless Aubrey or Chloe have anything to add…"

Beca trailed off and Aubrey picked up the sentence. "No, I don't think there's much more we can do without a song. Enjoy it girls, because this is the last day you'll get a break until after Finals." Aubrey smiled as the girls groaned, but left talking animatedly and laughing.

Chloe had gotten herself under control with a few deep breaths and thoughts of winning the a cappella Finals. Aubrey would feel such pride and success and Chloe wanted her to have that.

"Are you okay?" Aubrey asked after convincing Beca that Chloe was fine and she should go work on the setlist.

"Yeah." Chloe smiled with only a hint of sadness now.

"What happened?" Aubrey asked, placing her left hand on Chloe's right shoulder, holding her at arm's length while she looked down into Chloe's eyes.

"Beca's song choice, it's from 'The Breakfast Club', one of Jesse's favorite movies." Chloe said, the tears returning to her eyes, but this time she didn't care.

Aubrey's eyes softened as she realized what Chloe was saying. "The song is for him." She nodded sadly.

Chloe nodded as well, now sobbing with her head bent down.

"Chlo, don't cry." Aubrey said, pulling Chloe against her chest and enfolding the shorter ginger in her arms comfortingly.

Chloe's sobs didn't quiet and she clung to Aubrey's back, reaching up to grasp her shoulder blades. Aubrey's hands started stroking over Chloe's head, petting her hair in a soothing way.

"Shhh. Shhh. It's okay, Chloe. Everything is gonna be okay." Aubrey kept repeating.

Chloe could hear Aubrey's words and though she knew they didn't mean much, she did calm down after a little while. She pulled back from Aubrey and wiped her eyes, nodding and laughing at herself. Aubrey seemed worried still, but Chloe gave her a smile and started to grab up her things.

"Let's head back to the house."

Aubrey bit the inside of her cheek. "If you're sure you're okay…"

"I'll be fine, Bree. It's not going to be easy, but I'll get over it." Chloe shrugged.

Aubrey let out a huff. "Fine. But if Beca keeps making you feel like this, I might have to kick her butt. After Finals that is." Aubrey looked sideways at Chloe with a smirk.

It worked. Chloe laughed out loud and linked her arm with Aubrey's at the elbows. Aubrey smiled fully now. Chloe was happy to have such a good friend to help her through this. Aubrey was the only one who knew how she felt about Beca and the only one who could help her through the pain and sorrow now.

* * *

Beca was back in her dorm, working hard on the new setlist for the Finals. She'd copied down the list the Bellas had come up with in practice and she was now tinkering with the different songs. She'd already eliminated a few, not finding a way to work them in to the song.

Finally she thought she might have an idea and started piecing the final edited list together.

"Okay. I think I like this. Hopefully the others do too."

Beca paused as she thought about how in a cappella, the group had to make all the music with their mouths. She had pulled it off well enough with just two songs, but now she had six she wanted to combine into one. Maybe she could have them play with the beats while she played the mash-up she'd put together for them. Aubrey and Chloe might have some ideas about it as well.

 _Today was kind of strange._ She thought to herself. _It was almost like I was one of the captains. Aubrey and Chloe just handed everything over to me. What does that mean exactly? Maybe I can ask Aubrey tomorrow at practice. If she hands me the marker again, I might have my answer by that action alone._

Beca saved her final draft on the mix and turned off her computer. It was getting late now and she still had classes before Bellas practice in the afternoon. She was sure Aubrey meant what she'd said about today being the last easy practice before Finals. She'd need all the sleep she could get before Aubrey whipped her ass into shape.

* * *

Chloe and Aubrey walked in to the auditorium together the following afternoon and started setting things up. The chairs were in place and they were talking about their Bellas uniforms before everyone got there.

"I think we should keep it a surprise. We already have the girls' sizes from getting the original uniforms." Aubrey had suggested.

Chloe was surprised Aubrey was willing to change the uniforms at all. It seemed that when Aubrey Posen let go of the reigns, she let go completely. She had barely given a command the day before, leaving everything in Beca's hands. She hadn't even suggested a song. She'd only spoken when Beca had addressed the two of them, however indirectly.

"Aubrey Posen." Chloe says in mock reproach. "Are you actually saying we should change the traditional Barden Bella uniforms?!"

Aubrey laughed. "Oh, shut up. If I'm giving Beca the reigns, I might as well let her wear something she and the others are comfortable with."

Chloe smirked, slightly wrinkling her nose. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were starting to like her."

"Maybe a little." Aubrey admitted. "But so help me, Beale, if you tell anyone I just said that the police will never find your body."

Chloe held up her hands in surrender. "Your secret's safe with me." But she smiled widely at Aubrey anyways.

Just then the Bellas started filing in. Beca brought up the rear, catching both Chloe and Aubrey's attention as she had her laptop bag over her shoulder.

"Hey, Mitchell!" Aubrey shouted across the room.

Beca's head swung up to meet Aubrey's eyes in surprise. "What?"

"How do you expect to be a captain of the Bellas if you can't even show up early enough to help set up?" Aubrey's tone was teasing, but Beca seemed stunned.

* * *

Beca stopped walking at Aubrey's words. She stared at the girl for a few more moments before opening her mouth to speak. "Is that what I am? A Bellas captain?"

Aubrey shrugged. "Chloe's gonna need someone to help her out next year when I'm gone. Might as well be you."

Beca started walking towards the two, or _other_ two captains and placed her bag gently on the ground beside the white board. "Okay. So, I played with the list of songs and unfortunately I had to eliminate a few to make it work, but I managed to keep six of them."

Beca turned and scratched off the names of the songs she had to remove. The white board now read,

 **Party in the U.S.A.**

 **Call Me Maybe**

 **Give Me Everything**

 **Turn the Beat Around**

 **We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together**

 **Just the Way You Are**

 **Price Tag**

 **Gangnam Style**

 **Don't You (Forget About Me)**

Everyone waited for Beca to say something else. When she didn't, Fat Amy spoke.

"So what's the plan, Shawshank? Are we just supposed to guess at the arrangement?"

Beca's eyebrows rose as she looked at Amy. "Well that's why I brought this." Beca said, patting her laptop bag.

Beca pulled out the computer and brought up her DJ program. Beca caught Chloe's smile as she remembered how she was one of the few who had heard her mixes. Beca smiled without thinking about it, but she was looking at her screen, so it wasn't so obvious as to why. Beca didn't want to analyze the reasons behind her inability to control her facial expressions around Chloe. The girl was sunshine incarnate and Beca reacted instinctively.

"So, here's what I've got so far. I might need a bit of help figuring out how to get all the sounds we need in our set." Beca said, looking over her shoulder at Chloe, who now stood behind her and bit her lip, unsure.

* * *

Chloe understood immediately that Beca was asking her for help and she nodded with a wide smile. As Beca pressed play, the Bellas fell silent and listened to the way Beca had blended the songs. Chloe could hear Beca's voice mixed in with the original compositions. She couldn't help but feel prideful.

When the song transitioned from "Price Tag" to "Don't You (Forget About Me)" Chloe's smile dropped again. Chloe didn't even look to see whose hand had just landed on her shoulder. She knew it was Aubrey silently supporting her. Aubrey had been her best friend since they met almost three years ago when Chloe first started at Barden. She was happy to have her at times like these.

The song changed again into "Give Me Everything" and Chloe felt a little better. She could still hear Beca's voice singing pieces of "Don't You (Forget About Me)" underneath, but it wasn't the main point of it all. The other Bellas were nodding and saying how talented Beca was as most had not heard her mixes before. Chloe had known Beca was talented since the first time she heard her sing…in the shower…naked…with Chloe…also naked…

 _Get a_ grip _, Chloe!_ She yelled at herself as she tried to control her thought processes. _You're in a room full of people. Don't lose your cool here. Save it for later!_

The arrangement ended and the girls all began to speak excitedly.

"I have a few ideas, but first, let's decide on solos." Aubrey said, gaining the attention of the Bellas again.

"What are your thoughts?" Beca asked, genuinely interested as far as Chloe could tell.

"Hmmm. Well, what if we started with…"

The girls then continued to talk, working things out so that everything fit. Aubrey and Chloe played around with a few moves until they figured out what might work and began teaching a few moves to the others before they were all tired and could barely move anymore.

"Good job today, girls." Aubrey called.

Chloe was surprised, but happy that her friend had seemed to relax a bit more and acknowledge the effort the Bellas were putting into their practices. Chloe watched Beca pack up her laptop and walked toward her.

"So, Aubrey seems to have chilled out a bit." Beca said.

Chloe smiled. "Oh, totes. She's embracing the new Bella sound."

Beca's smirk became a full smile. "I'm glad. We actually might have a shot at winning if this works out."

"With the arrangement you came up with using your brilliant mind, it's a guarantee." Chloe winked at Beca.

Beca bit her lip at Chloe's words. That one simple act nearly knocked the wind out of Chloe. Beca biting her lip was one of the sexiest things Chloe had ever witnessed. Chloe's eyes brightened as Beca stood silently before her, just looking into her eyes.

* * *

 _Her eyes are so damn blue._ Beca thought to herself. She hadn't even realized she'd been staring into them for longer than was socially acceptable, but Chloe never said anything or fidgeted beneath her gaze. _Why does she make me feel this way? I always seem to get butterflies when she smiles at me that way. At least butterflies are better than the gut wrenching pain that shoots through you when she pouts or the heart strangling pain you fell when she cries._

Beca recalled how Chloe had sobbed after telling them she had removed her nodes and how all she wanted to do was grab her up in a tight hug and cry with her. Beca Mitchell did not initiate hugs and she most definitely did not cry. Except that one time over spring break… That didn't count though. Those were angry tears, or so she told herself.

"You okay, Beca?" Chloe finally asked, her smile having grown a bit more.

Beca shook herself and smiled back at Chloe. "Sorry I got lost in the moment." Beca mentally smacked her forehead and groaned. _Why did you just say that?!_

Chloe bit her lip and her smile turned flirtatious. Beca's stomach twisted, but she didn't react more than to pull her lips tightly together. Beca started to squirm under her stare and Chloe giggled. Beca would never tire of that sound, but she wasn't sure why she loved it so much. She'd never liked giggly girls in high school. They'd always driven her insane with their immature behavior. Chloe was different though.

"Admit it, you couldn't help but to stare at my sexy body." Chloe joked, or so Beca thought. The look in Chloe's eyes said she might be serious though.

"Totally." Beca rolled her eyes as she said it. "Can't get you out of my head."

Something clicked in Beca's mind as she said the words out loud. Chloe was in her head and Beca seemed to think of her often. The realization scared Beca if she was honest with herself. Chloe was the one person her mind brought to the forefront the most. Beca would sing in the shower and Chloe was there on her mind. Beca would drink a coffee in the quad and there she was again, stealing Beca's thoughts. She'd be there when Beca heard "Titanium", when she made a new mix, when the sun shone down on her, and when Beca walked outside on a clear, cloudless day to see the light blue of the afternoon sky (which was the same color as her eyes).

But what did it mean? Beca had started to feel something for Jesse and Beca understood that feeling. She'd had crushes before, but again, Chloe was different. Could that be what this was? Beca's mind recoiled at the thought. Beca Mitchell was straight as an arrow and there was no way she had a crush on her best friend. But maybe Chloe had a crush on her…

Beca looked back at Chloe's waiting smile. Chloe didn't act flirtatious with the other Bellas, nor did she get as physical with the others when helping them rehearse. Beca knew the truth then. Chloe Beale had a serious "toner" for Beca. Beca didn't want to think about what that meant or how it might affect their relationship. _Relationship?!_ Beca mentally ran away from her feelings and her deeper thoughts.

"Well, I should go tweak the set a bit to make it better. Maybe break it down a bit for the girls." Beca said, backing away from Chloe's intense gaze.

* * *

Chloe backpedaled at Beca's words. She'd obviously done something wrong, but she thought she saw something in Beca's eyes. _Wishful thinking._ Chloe told herself.

Chloe smiled, dropping her eyes to the ground. "Yeah, okay. I'll see you tomorrow." Chloe said.

Before she could stop herself, Chloe planted a kiss on Beca's cheek. She backed up and walked over to Aubrey then as an obviously flustered Beca strode out the door.

"Well, that was smooth." Aubrey stated flatly.

Chloe dropped her head in her hands and sighed. She looked back up as she started to speak.

"I thought it was going good, until Beca just freaked out or something. It was there, Aubrey. I swear! But she shut down and pulled away. Again. God, why does she do that?!"

Aubrey waited a moment before answering her. "Maybe she's nervous, Chlo. You've had experience with female to female emotions and you never really did have boundaries." Aubrey laughed when Chloe glared at her.

Chloe released Aubrey from her glare and huffed. "Maybe you're right."

"I usually am." Aubrey teased.

"Tell that to the Bellas." Chloe jabbed playfully.

Aubrey's jaw dropped in mock astonishment. Chloe laughed at her friend, but she could see her point.

"Beca is usually pretty closed off…"

"And she clams up when someone does something she doesn't agree with or when someone surprises her. She might share your feelings, but need time to figure it all out." Aubrey offered as comfort.

Chloe smiled again. "Have I told you lately that I love you?"

Aubrey broke out in to song, Chloe joining her after a beat.

" _Have I told you there's no one else above you  
Fill my heart with gladness  
take away all my sadness  
ease my troubles that's what you do"_

"No, but seriously." Chloe said after she and Aubrey stopped laughing for the most part. "I mean it. I love you, Bree."

"I love you too, Chlo." Aubrey smiled at her.

* * *

The day of the Finals had arrived and Chloe and Aubrey had finally revealed the new Bella uniforms to the girls. They all squealed in excitement as they looked over the new outfits which left them somehow complimentary to one another, but no one perfectly matching another.

"I think we should incorporate a bit of tradition again." Beca stated, surprising them all.

"How so?" Aubrey asked.

Instead of speaking, Beca removed the yellow Bellas scarf from around her neck and wrapped it around her wrist, tying it tightly.

Chloe smiled. "I love it."

The girls started removing their scarves and tying them around each other's wrists, except Lilly, who tied hers around her microphone and Chloe wasn't sure where she had gotten it, but a second scarf hung from her back pocket.

The girls waited for their turn to come up as they listened to the commentators.

"Welcome back to the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella. This next group, they need no introduction, but I'll do it anyway!" The man hyped up the crowd for the Treblemakers.

* * *

Beca called to Jesse as he was waiting for his cue to run out.

"Hey."

"Hey." He answered.

"Good luck."

"Thanks. You too." He said as the man finally called for them to go on stage.

"The Barden University Treblemakers!"

The commentators were going on about how good the Trebles were and how difficult it would be to defeat them after their performance tonight.

"I love you, awesome nerds." Beca said, turning to her group.

"Yeah, you guys are the best. Even though some of you are pretty thin, I think that you all have fat hearts and that's what matters. Okay, let's just smash this. Okay?" Fat Amy said, weirdly, but effectively exciting the Bellas.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Barden Bellas!" The man announced.

"My goodness gracious. Will you look at this? Gone are those Bella uniforms and this is a whole new look for them, and it is hot, hot, hot!" The male commentator gushed as they took the stage.

"John, these girls could turn me." The female added.

"We love you, Bellas!" They heard from the crowd.

Beca blow the pitch pipe and counted them in. "One, two, three, four."

Aubrey started them off.

" _Seems like everybody's got a price,  
I wonder how they sleep at night,  
When the sale comes first and the truth comes second,  
Just stop for a minute and (smile),"_

Then Chloe took over.

" _Everybody look to the left,  
Everybody look to the right,  
Can you feel that yeah,  
We're (payin' with love tonight),"_

There was a pause and Lilly sped through the next line.

" _It ain't all about the money"_

Then it was Cynthia Rose's turn.

" _It's not about the  
money, money, money,  
We don't need your money, money, money,  
We just want to make the (with Stacie: world dance),  
Forget about the (with Stacie: price tag),  
It ain't about the (ugh) cha ching cha ching,  
It's not about the (yeah) (with Stacie: ba bling ba bling),  
(with Stacie) Want to make the world dance,  
Forget about the price tag,  
(Price tag, forget about the price tag)"_

Beca moved to the middle of the stage, as the girls parted for her.

" _Hey Hey Hey Hey  
Won't you come see about me,  
I'll be alone dancin', you know it baby,  
Tell me (Tell Me) your troubles and doubts,  
Givin' me everything inside and out (inside and out),  
Don't you (You're amazing) forget about me (Just the way you are; just the way)"_

* * *

The girls came to the middle of the stage to line up, each leaning over the backside of the one in front. Chloe was lined up behind Beca and she didn't want to see how Beca seemed to be singing directly to Jesse, ripping Chloe's heart into tiny pieces. Her line of sight dropped to Beca's butt, which wasn't what she was going for when she dropped her head, but she wouldn't complain.

" _As you walk on by,  
Will you call my name,  
As you walk on by,  
Will you call my name,  
As you walk on by,  
Will you call my name  
I say"_

Then the Bellas joined Beca.

" _I say la lalalala lalalala (Stacie and Jessica: Amazing just the way you are) lalalalalalala  
Tonight,  
I will love, love you tonight,  
Give me everything tonight"_

Aubrey said the next line.

" _For all we know we might not get tomorrow"_

All the Bellas sang together, mostly led by Beca.

" _Let's do it tonight,  
Forget what they say,  
All the games they play,  
I want you tonight"_

Stacie moved to the front of the group, Lilly up behind her as she sang her short solo bit.

" _Grab somebody sexy,  
Tell them  
Hey,  
Give me everything tonight,  
Give me everything tonight"_

Cynthia Rose rapped Pitbull's part of "Give Me Everything".

" _Take advantage of tonight (Fat Amy: What's up?)  
'Cause tomorrow I'm off to do battle, perform for a princess (Stacie and The Barden Bellas: we just wanna make the world dance)  
But tonight, I can make you my queen,  
And make love to you endless (Stacie and The Barden Bellas: we just wanna make the world dance)  
It's insane to wait and they ain't growin' money,  
Keep flowin', hustlers move aside,  
So I'm tip-toein' to keep blowin'  
I got it locked down like Lindsay Lohan (Stacie and The Barden Bellas: forget about the price tag)  
Put it on my life, baby,  
I make you feel right, baby,  
Can't promise tomorrow,  
But I'll promise tonight,  
Darlin'"_

Fat Amy picked it up with Beca singing parts of "Don't You (Forget About Me)" inbetween.

" _Excuse me,  
But I might drink a little more than I should tonight,  
And I may take you home with me if I could tonight,  
(Don't you forget about me)  
And baby I will make you feel so good tonight,  
Cause we might not get tomorrow toni- ni-ni-ni-n-n-n-n-n-n- UH"_

The Bellas joined in on the last word.

Beca took the lead again, moving into "Party in the U.S.A." with Stacie's voice layering with her own.

" _Hands up,  
I put my hands up,  
Don't you forget about me,  
(Party in the U.S.A.) (Jessica: Ahhhhhh!) tonight,"_

Aubrey finished the song out, backed up by the others.

" _I will love, love you tonight,  
Give me everything tonight,  
We might not get tomorrow,(Fat Amy: Love to hear percussion!)  
Let's do it tonight!"_

Cheers rang out from all sides as the girls smiled widely. The girls left the stage and went to take their seats. Beca was the first to reach their section and Chloe watched as Beca grabbed Jesse, telling him he was "such a weirdo" before kissing him passionately on the lips.

Chloe's breath caught and she swore she could feel her heart in her throat. She didn't think her heart could be splintered any smaller, but she was just proven wrong. Chloe could feel the tears rushing down her cheeks, but she smiled at the obvious happiness Beca was feeling in that moment. All Chloe wanted was for Beca to wear a smile like that every day and if Jesse made her do that, then Chloe would let her go.

"Chloe?" She heard Aubrey ask from behind her, her hand resting lightly on her back.

"She looks so happy." Chloe said simply.

Aubrey glanced over to Beca, then back to Chloe. "Yeah, she does."


	6. Chapter 6

Six months had passed since the a cappella Finals. The Barden Bellas had won and were named champions. Aubrey had graduated and moved on with her adult life. Chloe was busy with her senior year classes when the auditions came back around, leaving Beca in charge of everything.

"Listen up, a-ca-ballers. I have been rejected by the Army, shoved into a Dora the Explorer backpack, and pushed into the girls' locker room wearing nothing but suspenders. But no matter. I am in the world that I love. And with the assistance of my boy Justin…" Tommy said, bringing the auditions to a start.

"My liege." Justin said.

"I launch this year's auditions. Belly roll. The most recent ICCA national champion winners get to pick the audition song."

Beca and the other Bellas in attendance whispered as they chose a song.

"Alright nerds. Let's go with…'We Are Young'." Beca called out.

After watching everyone's audition, Beca and the other Bellas had decided to bring in only three girls; Flo Fuentes, a small Latino transfer student, Margret Jameson, a slightly bitchy blonde that reminded Beca oddly of Aubrey, and Samantha George, a posh raven haired girl that probably wouldn't last long with her attitude, but Beca was willing to give her a shot.

Beca began leading them through their first rehearsal. "Well girls, let's get to work."


End file.
